Kara: Android, Deviant, Mother, Revolutionary
by Karaisbestmom
Summary: What if Kara and Alice's story was more woven into the story of other main characters? What could happen if Kara was pushed to fight instead of flight?
1. Chapter 1

"Put the cash on the counter!"

Though her voice was tempered by the biocomponent that ensured whatever she said sounded pleasant, the firmness of the demand was unmistakable.

The gun she had pointed at the shop worker probably helped as well.

The worker, slowly, reached down into the register. Kara kept her eyes, and her gun, on him.

A brief moment, his eyes darting to something. Kara tensed, prepared to shout a command.

Then a gun was pulled on her.

Time slowed, her manufactured mind processing her options.

 _Shoot or Dont shoot_ it offered.

 _Dont shoot._ Her finger curled over the trigger but didnt pull, arm held steady.

"Now you better get out of here before things get messy" the shop worker threatened.

She analysed her situation, computing the paths that would get her her goal. Fear wove itself into her calculations.

The fear that Alice would be left without a protector. The fear that Alice would never get her chance to grow up, to live a normal and happy life. The fear that Alice might get sick if they spent the night outside.

Kara stood her ground, resolute. Their eyes spoke, hers determined. She would not leave. His wavered, he did not want to kill.

 _He thinks im human. Convince him?_

"See that little girl outside?"

He wavered a little more.

"Her name is Alice. She's nine years old and this is the worst night of her life"

His eyes softened, his arm relaxed a little.

Kara sighed softly, a human behaviour that conveyed relief. Her stern expression lost some of its edge.

Her arm remained still, finger on the trigger.

"All I need is a few dollars so we can find a place for tonight"

The man swallowed. They stared at each other for a second more.

The worker, slowly, reached for the register.

Kara bit her lip.

A bill was put on the counter.

Ulysses Grant stared at her.

 _Thank you_.

She conveyed her thought by taking the money and lowering her gun.

She kept her eyes on the worker as she backed away, then out the store.

"Wait, how did you get the money?" Alice asked her.

Kara paused, thought for a moment, and smiled at the girl.

"I asked the man for some help"

* * *

The motel wasn't fancy, but it was well maintained and cleaner than anything outside.

It was also warm.

Kara put their stolen clothes on the radiator, smoothing them out of programmed instinct.

Turning around the android turned deviant drew a breath as she looked at the absolutely _miserable_ girl sat on the bed.

 _You should never look so sad._

A warmth blossomed in her chest. Usually such a feeling would come from doing a good job, code in her programming that told her that she was performing her instructions to the letter.

Android endorphins, as it were.

It was there to enforce the idea that they were to be happy, obedient servants.

For Kara though, she knew this was a different feeling. This warmth bloomed out of a _desire_. A want.

The want to make Alice's sadness go away.

This was a want that went beyond her programming, even as a carer bot designed to please her owners.

She didnt know how exactly deviancy worked, how she 'felt' these emotions and 'knew' these thoughts.

But she did know that Alice was a sad, lost little girl that needed her.

HER as a sympathetic and caring person, not as a machine designed to emulate those emotions.

So Kara knelt down in front of the girl, getting to eye level.

Alice's gaze was distant however, staring morosely at the ground.

"Why did he stop loving me?"

 _He didn't deserve you_.

"Why was he so upset with me?"

 _He was a blind, angry drug abusing fool._

"All I wanted was a normal life"

 _I'll give it to you I promise._

"Maybe I did something wrong?"

 _Never_

"Maybe I was the reason mom left us, that's why he was always so angry"

 _No_

"I just wanted us to be a family again. I just wanted him to love me again"

Alice's gaze lifted to meet hers. Soft, brown, doe-like eyes, shining with unshed tears.

"Why couldn't we just be happy?"

Kara felt the weight of the world upon her in that moment. The biocomponents and programs that acted as her 'brain' offered several replies, all backed up by the information that had been put into her database. Psychology of human behaviour, sociological studies of family, children's studies: information deemed necessary for the AX400 series, the "care-bots", for optimum Android-human interaction.

Kara said none of them, instead shaking her head and clearing the options away "I dont know" she, as Alice's Kara, said honestly.

"You'll never leave me right? Promise you'll never go"

The weight felt crushing. Distantly, she knew what she was feeling was trepidation, something that should have been impossible since it was never programmed into her to feel such an emotion.

 _Promise or Dont Promise?_

Alice's lips trembled.

"I promise"

The girl sniffled "Will we be together forever?"

There could only be one option.

"Forever" she said as they went in for an embrace, willing that the conviction she felt was conveyed through the plastic of her skin.

They shared that embrace for an eternity. Kara felt that warmth in her chest blossom into an inferno and she knew right then and there that she would do anything for this sweet little child.

This child that gave her her name and in doing so breathed life into a machine .

This child that gave that life meaning, gave it wants and desires and a purpose beyond obeying her programming.

The child that _she_ as a _thinking_ , _feeling_ being wanted to love with all her heart and soul.

She put Alice to bed soon after, tucking her in and giving her a kiss. There was a moment of hesitation as her programing ran analysis.

 _Lie in bed or keep watch?_

The latter made the most sense. It would enhance their security, allow her to react quickly to any threat and watch over the little girl.

A little girl who did not want to be alone.

She climbed in bed, bringing her arm over Alice.

She couldn't help but smile when Alice nuzzled closer.

* * *

"You're pretty like that"

Kara paused.

"You really look like a human now"

Kara's smile was a mile wide. _Like a human_.

"Bath's ready Alice"

The girl nodded and went off to take her bath, affording Kara her first bit of privacy since her (second) awakening.

Assessing Objectives:

Primary Objective: Protect Alice….

….Ensure her Health, Happiness and Security.

Analysing: Health….

….External diagnostic results….

….Temperature rising. 75% chance of developing fever. Suggest rest and increased nutritional intake.

 _Out in the cold and rain with only a sweater and nothing to eat._

Priority action: Acquire flu medicine and food.

Running assessment….

...Only ten dollars in currency.

...40% chance able to acquire food AND medicine.

Prioritise: Medicine and liquids first priority. Prefer orange juice of 90% or above orange content.

Priority action altered.

Priority action confirmed.

Changing analysis: Happiness...

….Very Unhappy. Requires improvement and reassessment.

….Run Storytelling subroutine….Canceled

….Run Singing subroutine….Canceled

….Assess Play options….Canceled

….Assessing Media options….Canceled

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

Running priority: Show her you care about her. Show her you love her.

Running priority confirmed.

Changing Analysis: Security….

….Security situation: Very Poor. In Danger.

….Location [Downtown]: Unfamiliar.

….Location [Eastern Motel]: Unsecured

….Get help?

….Local authorities: Hostile.

….Local populace: Unfriendly-Hostile

Assess additional assets...

….

….

….

….Possession of firearm. Glock model. 15 Round magazine capacity. 14 Rounds in magazine.

Priority objective: Escape Downtown.

To where?

….Alice's other family?

….Zlatko's place?

….

….

Location unconfirmed, check with Alice.

"The victims name was Todd Williams…"

Kara's attention turned to the television, at the news reporter outside of Todd's home.

"...reportedly shot by his Android, suspected to be one of the popular AX400 models. In addition Alice Williams, Todd's daughter, is also missing and believed to have been kidnapped by the Android…."

"You had no choice!"

Kara clicked off the t.v, turning to Alice who stood in the bathroom door looking like she had just jumped out of a bath.

"He was going to kill me otherwise" Alice insisted.

Kara grabbed a towel and dried her off, saying nothing.

There was nothing she could say.

"...What are we going to do Kara? The police are after us" Alice spoke hopelessly.

The Android looked at the girl after wrapping her up in a towel. "I dont know" she said honestly.

Both looked as lost as the other.

"But I do know" Kara started, putting her palm on Alice's cheek "That it's us against the world Alice, just the two of us. We have to learn to trust each other. I only have you and you only have me"

Kara drew a breath, willing that her expression would convey the sincerity of her words "..and I am going to do everything that I can to make you happy again"

Alice sniffled, nodding the tiniest fraction and drew in for a hug.

 _Everything that I can._

It was not too soon before her promise would be tested.

* * *

The fence was blocking their way, easy to climb but tall enough to be an issue for Alice. A quick glance on the other side she saw a steep bank, muddy from the recent rain.

Alice first, or her? Time seemed to stop as she ran the calculations in her head, analysing the outcomes.

 _Help Alice first._

Plastic hands gripped the rusting fence as she hoised Alice up and over, following and helping the girl down onto the other side and keeping her from slipping.

Right just as the Android chasing them slammed into the fence.

Kara and her pursuer shared a look, her grey eyes looking into his brown. The LED on the Android's head spun. An officer, with pistol in hand, ran up behind him.

Kara grabbed Alice and both slid down onto the highway.

 _Need to keep moving, keep her safe._

Safety meant distance from the people intent on hunting them down.

Vault over the barriers, straight into the high-speed computer controlled traffic.

 _Between a rock and a hard place_.

Between the sounds of automated horns and speeding _whoosh_ that heralded death, she could hear the fence rattle, and a male voice yelling in outrage.

Alice clutched to her side with an iron grip, Kara stepped into the traffic.

Vehicles, going no less than seventy kilometres per hour, _zoomed_ past her. In front, then behind, and both at once as she carried the both of them into the gaps. Every second her 'brain' calculated the timing and the place but it was not made for this, being pushed to the very limit of what it had been engineered to do.

She tried to ignore how Alice was screaming in raw fear for her very life, crushing down her instinct to coddle the sweet, sweet girl and tell her that everything was alright.

 _Im sorry Alice_.

Move, sway, feel the rush of air as a vehicle sped past inches from them. Closer, closer to the other side.

 _Nearly there!_

"Stop!"

Just as she was about to throw Alice onto the other side someone slammed into both of them. She managed to stand for just enough time so that when they fell, the truck speeding in front didnt crush them all.

"Kara, NO! Get off her!"

 _Alice!_

The little girl had jumped onto her attacker, trying to pull him off.

But she was leaning too far back, the car coming behind would hit her in a moment.

 _Kick the Android away or push them both?_ Her 'brain' offered her the only choices it could come up with.

With a mighty effort she put both hands on the road and pushed off the ground, kicking her attacker with both feet, hurling him and Alice away from the incoming danger which zipped by them by mere inches.

Her eyes were solely on Alice, the little girl, her brave little girl, who was safe in gap in the middle of the highway.

Along with the Android who was hunting them down.

It took him a moment, far too quick to even shout a warning before he grabbed hold of Alice and lifted her up by her coat.

Thankfully, at least, putting her behind him.

That fact however did not stop Kara and Alice's screams drowning out the sound of speeding death for a brief moment.

"No! Let me go! Let me go now!" Alice twisted in his grip but it was firm, mechanical.

And she was a only a little girl.

"Surrender now and I will escort you to safety!" The voice was doing a good job of replicating firmness, but it was too perfect, too synthetic to ever be real.

Kara held no hope he could be convinced to turn deviant.

Seconds ticked by like hours as she calculated her chances, considered her options.

She opened her mouth "I'll-"

A blast of a horn.

"KARA!"

Everything was white. She felt like she was flying.

 _What?_ Her processor was suddenly slowed. She was moving yet not of her own accord.

Wrenching, grinding metal, the heat of sparks.

A horrified shriek.

 _Oh_.

Her systems monitor came up on her hud: _CONDITION CRITICAL._

"..K..a..r..a..!"

 _A-l-i-ce….._


	2. Chapter 2

… _._

… _._

… _._

 **System reboot….Failure.**

….

….

….

 **System reboot….Failure**

….

….

….

 **System reboot….**

 _Kara wake up! Kara!_

"Alice!" Kara gasped awake.

But everything was blurry, slow, dulled. A persistent ringing clouded her audio sensors and her HUD was tinged red.

 **Running diagnosis….**

… **.**

… **.**

… **.**

… **.**

… **.**

… **.Thirium pump regulator: Low power**

… _ **.**_ **Left optical unit: Damaged, in need of replacement.**

… **..Left shoulder mount: Severely damaged. Left arm module missing**

… **..Left leg mount: Severely damaged. Left leg module missing.**

… **..Audio input module: Damaged, in need of repair**

… **..Biocomponent #8067k: Severely damaged, in need of replacement**

… **..Biocomponent #1604e: Severely damaged, in need of replacement**

… **..Biocomponent #3983e: Damaged, in need of repair**

… **..**

The diagnosis continued on with the final result being that every biocomponent either needed repair or replacement with the worst generally on her left side where the impact must have occurred.

Kara looked around with vision blurred by static.

A hellscape greeted her.

Hundreds of androids dead or dying, groaning, begging, crying, moaning, pleading. Hundreds of hands grasping to a sky which showered them with rain.

As if the heavens were crying for them, washing away the mud that sullied their bodies.

And further covering those that stayed on the ground, either the dead or those that wished to be.

Kara would not be one of them.

 **Priority action: repair/replace thirium pump regulator.**

Crawling on a snail's pace she managed to reach a torso, just a single torso with no attached limbs. A scan over revealed that its thirium pump regulator was badly damaged.

 _The next one._

On she went, crawling through the mud, dirt and debris. Over the remains of the broken and forgotten.

 _I could have been like them, the first time Todd broke me._

But she hadn't been thrown into a scrapyard. She had been repaired.

 _Alice_.

Maybe it was cheaper to repair than buy new, but Kara felt that Alice must have wanted her, HER, Alice's Kara. Not a copy but the boriginal.

 **Accessing[?] ….Restoring memory clip.**

 _What?_

A memory played out, a little girl holding her hand and taking her outside into a backyard.

Alice. A smiling, happy Alice.

The memory ended and Kara was back in hell.

For a moment Kara stood frozen but the flashing red on her HUD, warning her of her systsmes in need of repair, moved her to action.

 _Priority objective._ _Focus_.

She moved onto the next corpse, a construction android whose right side looked like it had been crushed. Thankfully, some biocomponents were still intact. They were degraded but functioning better than some of hers.

The thirium pump regulator however was not one of them.

Still, she exchanged the parts she could and moved on.

A domestic android was next. It was smilar to the AX400 but more advanced, designed to be customisable by the owners to have their ideal servant.

It did not save it from being discarded it seemed.

Kara took what she could, adding a new arm and a leg, slowly piecing herself back together.

But for the thirium pump regulator, that still eluded her.

 _Have to find it. Running low on thirium_.

She stumbled over the dead now instead of crawling over them. With increased range she ventured from the pile she had initially been thrown into, towards a different part of the scrap heap.

She ignored the agonized moaning of the doomed and damned. She had to look after herself, she had to get out.

She had to find Alice.

"Hey! Hey!"

Kara looked at the android calling towards her, stumbling her way over, analysing along the way.

"Hey, you can walk! Whoo that's great, and you've got arms as well! Fantastic!"

It was a cheery android. Literally, it wore a torn and mud covered cheer uniform. It's form was female, with a youthful 'skin' and a pretty face underneath a layer of wet mud with only a few strands of hair left on her head.

"Hi, im Amy, nice to meet ya!" The cheer-bot said as Kara settled over her.

This close, Kara could see Amy was missing an arm and both her legs, and that she was stuck in a pile of other dead androids.

"So, you see I'm in a bit of a pickle dont you? Well that's because my legs were broken by an accident, it's why I'm here, and my arm was taken by a rude customer!"

Amy's voice seemed permanently set on "peppy" setting despite how her pretty eyes conveyed her pain. She was aware, awakened.

Her LED spun red.

"So I was thinking, since you're all walking and touching, perhaps you can help me out? Teamwork is best-work as they say! Please?"

The water running under Amy's eyes wasn't just rain. She was desperate, begging. Her hardware could not convey it but Kara could still see.

 **Analysis complete: Thirium pump regulator functioning**.

She had been paying very close attention, after all.

Slowly Kara put her hands on Amy's torso.

The cheer-bot smiled, extatic "Oh yes! Ive been asking for help for so long, nobody listened to me but I knew there had to be somebody who would list-hey, what are you doing?"

Kara hooked her fingers over Amy's stomach area, digging into the 'skin'.

"Hey now come on, you dont need to do that. Just lift me up! L-I-F-T!"

If anyone was listening, the way Amy's fear was spoken with such a peppy voice would have been disturbing.

Kara pushed on, doing her best to ignore Amy and breaking Amy's 'skin' to reveal the plastic beneath.

Amy began to struggle, and beg.

"Please! No! N-O, I dont want to go!" she cheered in fright.

"Im sorry" Kara said her first words to the struggling Android, ignoring the other android's eyes. "I'm really sorry. But Alice needs me"

Invading nails found gaps, fingers starting to pry Amy's stomach open.

"Please, Please No! Please, let me go!"

The compartment opened. Inside was the 'beating heart' of every android, the thirium pump. Amy's was pulsing a bright, inviting blue.

"You, you cant!"

Kara grasped at the biocomponent.

Amy freed her one arm to grab onto Kara.

"N-O! N-O! N-O! N-O! N-O!"

The deviant looked into the cheer-bot's eyes, eyes which were frozen in a state of terrified happiness. Kara hesitated at that terrible, desperate look.

 **Accessing [?] ….restoring memory. Playing memory clip.**

There a flsh of white. She was back in Alice's room in Todd's house. theyw ere sta together looking at something on the ground.

" _Ka-ra, see?" Small fingers pointed to her name spelled out on a piece of paper. "It means 'love'. I think It suits you" Alice smiled at her._

Kara blinked. The memory vanished.

Her fingers gripped Amy's 'heart'...

"NO-!"

"Im sorry"

...and pulled.

Kara stumbled back, falling onto the mud as Amy's grip slackened.

The cheer bot's final expression was a painful, agonized smile.

Kara turned away, clutching Amy's heart with shaking hands.

* * *

Thank you for the reviews, favourites and follows. They are mightily apreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

"Connor we are not interrogating a nine year old!" Hank's voice, crotchety as ever, rang out in the hospital corridor.

Connor was taken aback, if his expression was anything to go by "I only meant to ask a few questions lieutenant " Connor's synthetic voice was tinged with seemingly genuine confusion.

"Oh fuck you and your 'questions'. You are not to go within fifty feet of that girl ya hear me?"

Connor paused, processing.

Hank glared at him.

Connor nodded slowly "Very well lieutenant. You will likely have more success as a fellow human anyway"

Hank narrowed his eyes, full of suspicion.

"...but I must advise that feeding her…" He peered at the paper bag in Hank's hand "...Chicken feed's 'Hank Special' is not recommended"

Hank looked genuinely offended "And why the hell not? People eat chicken soup when they're sick, this is just…" he held up the brown paper bag which was leaking with grease "...chicken soup in burger form"

Connor stood with his mouth parted and brow furrowed, unable to come up with a reply to such a statement.

"That it? Good, now stay here. And follow my damn orders this time!" Hank turned and entered the room behind him, muttering a soft, irritated '"fuckin' android" before shutting the door.

On the other side the crotchety detective sighed, dropping his expression and adopting one much, much softer.

Laid on the hospital bed, Alice glared at him with as much venom as a ten year old girl with an I.V in her arm could muster.

Which was an impressive amount, Hank judged as he sat on a seat directly opposite Alice, making sure to be in full view.

 _Alright, let's get you talkin'_

Though Hank gave Connor his excuse the truth of the matter was that the detective felt he could trust Connor not to be a completely emotionless machine around the girl. Maybe the android could of even gotten something out of her.

If she didn't have such a visceral reaction to his presence, that is.

Oh the girl hid it well. Impressively well. Disturbingly well, but Hank wasn't the washed up old detective that some of his colleagues thought him as.

He could still tell when someone genuinely wanted to kill another person.

Alice? Alice looked at Connor like she was seeing the tombstone she'd clobber him with.

It was in the way her eyes focused on the Android when he and Hank walked through the door the first time, the way her jaw tightened, how tightly her fingers gripped her bed.

How her heart started beating faster with adrenaline.

That wasn't fear, something you'd expect from a child looking at a...machine like Connor, knowing what he was. It wasn't just blind anger either.

That reaction spoke of pure, concentrated murder.

 _And she's only ten years old for god's sake. No kid should have a look like that_.

With slow deliberate movements Hank reached into his jacket and pulled out a grocery bag filled with fruit and fruit juice.

 _Come on Connor, just 'cause I put on a few pounds doesn't mean I dont know what healthy foods like._

Alice kept her glare going but he saw how her eyes were drawn to the bag.

 _That's right, no kid can resist genuine sweetfruit._

A curious product of the modern age that Hank wished he had when he was a kid: fruit that had been genetically modified to naturally be sweeter without any questionable additives.

And for once they weren't lying, it was actually one of modern science's greatest achievement, earning the egg-heads who came up with it great acclaim.

As well as the heartfelt thanks of many a parent.

Going by how she kept glancing at it, Alice was a fan.

"This here's just for you miss, thought I'd pick some up when we were going to be stopping by" Hank placed the bag on Alice's bedside table where a previous meal lay uneaten.

" _She's developing a fever and I dont think she's eaten in a while"_ the nurse had informed the detective and Connor when they made inquiries " _She also seems to react adversely to any android assigned for her care"_

 _Probably because hospital androids either are the AX400 or based heavily on them. She doesn't want to seem to replace the android that she ran away with?_

Hank had pulled up Todd Williams' file on the way over and after a quick assessment he wasn't putting too much on the whole 'kidnapping' charge.

 _Records of drug abuse, domestic violence, on medication for unstable mood and out of work._

It did not paint a sympathetic figure.

In fact, Hank was kind of glad the android shot the guy. This way he wouldn't have to deal with handing over custody of Alice to such an obvious asshole.

Still, they needed to know just a little bit more to close this particular case. Namely, how and why did the android- "Kara"- turn deviant in the first place.

 _Alice called it by a name._

That meant identity, a sense of self. It had also displayed a sense of self preservation greater than the other deviant he and Connor had encountered before.

But then the scuffle on the highway, something Hank vividly remembered.

 _The Android -Kara- put Alice's safety at a higher priority than their escape._

Such an action spoke of the sense of care the android must of had for the girl. It wasn't thinking of itself alone.

 _And don't dismiss the name. Kara was deliberately chosen, but was it something the android picked or was it given to her?_

Hank watched in silence as Alice finally gave in to her hunger and took a banana out of the bag, munching on it and washing it down with orange juice.

She still kept the glare up though.

Hank answered with a cheery smile.

 _It's alright girl, hopefully all this will just be a bad memory_ _in time_.

Though he wasn't confident in that, he knew all too well about bad memories.

"So" he said once Alice had devoured the last apple and drained a bottle of mango juice dry. "Why don't we start by introducing ourselves hm? Im Hank Anderson, I work with the Detroit Police as an investigator"

Glare.

Despite everything Hank couldn't help but feel a little stab of disappointment. Detectives were cool dammit!

"And you are, young miss?"

Glare.

Hank kept his smile on.

Glare.

Smile.

Glare.

Smile.

Glare

Hank blew a raspberry.

Alice jerked back, then stared at him, confused.

"...what?" she said.

Hank chuckled "Gotcha there didn't I?"

Glare.

But it was softer this time, Hank could tell.

"Well, it's rude to not introduce yourself to someone who did to you. Or should I just call you…" Hank made a show of leaning back and tapping his chin "...Badger"

"Badger?"

"You're cute, you're small and you're angry. Sounds like a Badger to me"

"...Badgers aren't small!"

Hank shrugged "They are to me"

Alice huffed and puffed and glared but Hank was smiling.

 _Not so angry anymore are ya?_

* * *

"How did it go lieutenant?" Connor asked once Hank emerged from the room.

"Hmm. Well, the girl's certainly got spike, can tell you that much"

"...and the deviant?" Connor asked after visibly considering Hank's statement for a moment.

"Went rogue to protect the girl from her deadbeat father"

"Oh" Connor blinked, thinking as Hank ran a hand down his face. "I see. Was there anything else?"

Hank eyed him with an indestructible expression "...No Connor. That's all she said"

"Well, I suppose that is case closed then. The deviant has been destroyed and the cause was emotional overload much like the Ortiz case"

Hank nodded, keeping his eyes on Connor "Is that it?"

Connor raised a brow "Erm, yes. What are you asking detective?"

"Just curious. You didn't seem too eager to have the deviant be recovered"

"I-it was too damaged to be of any use"

Hank nodded, doubtful "Uh huh. The girl crying over the body not have any effect on you?"

Connor's expression was a complicated one "I, n- no. No of course not. My mission was completed in the end"

Hank didn't look convinced but didn't push the issue any further "Alright, let's get back to HQ and have this written up. I need a damn drink after all this"

As the pair walked out Connor took note of the fact that Hank still held the greasy brown bag with all its contents untouched.

Somehow, that fact made him smile just a little.

* * *

Thank you all for the reviews, favoruites and follows. They are all highly apreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

When Zlatko woke up that evening, he was hoping someone would knock on his door. It had been a while since he'd had a new toy to play with.

So when someone did knock he was so excited he didnt even change out of his blue-stained shirt or wash his hands when he answered the door.

What he did not expect however was the bride of frankenstein herself to be standing there in his porch.

The android had the face of an AX400, and roughly the body type. But that was about it in terms of normality.

It's left shoulder was wrecked, the arm that was attached was more jammed in and forced to fit than anything else. The same went for it's left leg, the android's thigh just the internal skeleton and a bunch of wires. The rest of its body was no better with the torso caved inwards and a huge section was shorn off revealing a few biocomponents and other internal hardware.

But the eyes! Oh the eyes, they were ALIVE!

The android's hand was on his doorframe "Zlatko?"

The tone made the man hesitate. Something about it raised the hair of the back of his neck. "Yes?" He nodded slowly.

"...Help me"

Zlatko raised his brow. It wasn't the first time he'd ever heard a plea for help be issued as a demand, but it was the first time it was said with such...force.

But still, HE was the master of this house. Not some freakzilla. Besides, his engineering mind was itching to take on this challenge.

He always wanted a ninja maid after all, and now the chance to make one just popped on on his doorstep.

He smiled at the thought "Come in"

* * *

The "surgery", such as it were, was one of the most complex and complicated, if not the most, Zlatko had ever performed.

How this android had even gotten to his place was a miracle in itself considering the state it was in.

But he was Zlatko, android expert extraordinaire, and he had managed to not only repair but upgrade the android.

He, Zlatko, had improved upon Cyberlife's model!

And the bastards had the temerity to strip him of his job and deny him any sort of employment in the city, and for what? Just because he broke a few androids during testing? Pah! It wasnt his fault, stupid androids were clearly defective.

But this wasn't about Cyberlife stooges, it was about him! He had made, with his own hands and stolen equipment, the one thing that he had always wanted when he saw the first android advert.

On the table before him lay his new "combat maid".

The gaping tear had been fixed, her torso repaired to functionality. Her limbs were likewise restored to their original state and he'd had enough spare parts and blue-blood to ensure that she looky physically perfect, right down to the hair which had regrown to its standard issue length.

All-in-all, the android looked just like what an AX400 would fresh out of the factory, aside from the clothing.

Where his _real_ genius showed however was in it's software.

Now, while he couldn't get access to what they put in military-issue androids, there were ways one could "modify" their android to perform tasks such as bodyguarding since guard androids were more widely available, thus information about them accessible, than military combat units. Certainly such programming didnt allow one to make something like a soldier-bot or anything like an assassin-bot (despite the present conspiracy of the existence of androids specifically designed to serve as such), but with some hacking and breaking and putting together, one could make a competent combat program.

Now, Zlatko, being the genius that he was, not only did this but also figured out how to seamlessly integrate this new programming within the Android's original set.

Thus, a combat maid was born.

Now he wasn't so in the thick of it that he forgot one of the most important steps in rewiring an android: erase it's previous memory.

Now on a blank slate, Zlatko had taken the extra step to apply his "Luther Patch", a set of code that ensured an Android's unquestioning obedience to his authority. Now it didnt matter that it had no memory, it had a _function_. Of course it had only been applied to Luther but it had worked, his brilliance wouldn't have it otherwise.

"Ahhh" Zlatko sighed as he took a well deserved break, chugging a can of cold mountain dew.

Served by his newest toy.

The AX400 stood with robotic attention beside him, a tray of food and drink effortlessly held in her arm.

Zlatko clicked his fingers.

The android dutifully fulfilled it's programmed order, setting out his table and plate.

Not once did it's expression change from the blank slate he set it on.

He gave it more orders, more for his own entertainment than anything else. Clean this, pick that up, take this away etc...

Every task was completed dutifully and with the respect that he was deserving of.

"Perfect" He laughed "Fucking perfect! Ah, Zlatko, you've outdone yourself"

With the obedience test done, he took the android around the house showing it the rooms and places it would need to clean.

Luther was a useful tool, but it was not one designed to clean up a mess.

 _Speaking of Luther_...

Zlatko called the android "Luther, are you done disposing of the mess?"

"Yes Zlatko" came the dutifull reply.

 _Hm, might as well see if he can pick up some things while he's out there….Oh, yes, definitely needs to pick up a few things._

As Zlatko conversed with Luthor on the phone while he showed her around the house, he did not notice the moments when Kara paused, looking at a particular object. He did not notice the way her expression shifted ever so slightly when looking this way and that, the way she looked at him with narrowed eyes, confused, trying to figure something out.

Zlatko ended the call, turning to his new android. "This here's the master bedroom" he held his hand out and waved it distractedly, mind on something else.

...missing the way Kara's eyes snapped to the shotgun by the bed.

"This will be your first priority, so get going!" He clapped his hands for emphasis.

"Yes Zlatko" the android replied in perfect monotone.

Zlatko left the android in the room, heading downstairs and into the basement.

An idea had come upon him and he was feeling very _excited_ to try it out.

* * *

A few hours and a tidied house later Zlatko sat in front of an impromptu arena. In really it was a circle made out of scrap that Luther had brought back, but it felt right calling it that. Calling it a fighting pit was too...plebeian.

Certainly, it needed a fitting name for it was about to showcase to the world the great Zlatko's genius.

His new android, for which he had yet to come up with a name for, stood on one end while on the other stood one of his little creations, one of the few with fully working limbs.

It was just unfortunate that half of its head was missing.

Still, all good bouts started with a warm-up round.

"Come one come all!" He laughed, the only sound in the yard aside that drowned out the rain. "To the first of Zlatko's one on one android showdown! Today we feature the new arrival! They face…" he waved his hand uncaringly at the broken android "...this thing, whatever it was"

The 'crowd' consisting of all his broken android toys stared on in impassive silence.

He took a sip of beer "Now, the rules are...whatever the fuck I say they are. Now fight! Fight!"

The two androids in the 'arena' looked awkwardly at each other, neither moving.

Zlatko growled "I gave you an order, obey!"

Kara looked at her opponent and walked towards him, fingers flexing. The half headless android stumbled towards her, arms out and groaning.

When she was in reach he swiped and she leaned back, avoiding the hit. He swiped again and she batted his arms away with ease.

It was a pattern that would repeat itself for the two minutes their 'fight' lasted, up until Zlatko got bored and ordered her to "finish him"

Kara simply maneuvered herself behind her opponent, kicked him in the back of his knees and trapped his arms behind him, pinning him in place.

"Pff" Zlatko looked miffed " 'least the programin's running fine…"

After putting the half-headless android out of the arena another bout was called, this time two of Zlatko's old playthings stepped in to fight his new toy. Like the recently defeated android however the two were clearly damaged, one android having only stubs for arms and another looking like it had been mauled by a bear, with massive claw-like lacerations on its back and lower part of its body. It's face had also been replaced by a scalp of hair.

Once more, Kara flexed her fingers and advanced upon her opponents slowly, staring at them intently.

The pair watched her, unmoving.

"Fight! Fight you worthless pieces of trash!" Zlatko called out, throwing a bottle at the arms-less one.

Still they did not move.

Kara stepped within reach and halted her advance. She waited for a moment.

"Oh my god why are you not fucking trashing them?"

Kara turned to him "They are not hostile" she said in monotone.

Zlatko let out an exaggerated, frustrated groan. "Fuck my life, can any of you actually do what you're told for fucking once?" he shook his head "Eugh whatever. Luther, dispose of those two" he pointed to the damaged androids, then shifted his finger to Kara "And you, get back inside. Need to make a few adjustments"

Luther, who had been standing besides Zlatko, dutifully obeyed.

Kara's arm snapped to hold his in place when he reached for one of the damaged androids.

Kara and Luther looked at each other, no emotion in their faces.

"They are not hostile" Kara repeated.

"What are you doing?!" Zlatko shouted at her "Stand down!"

Luther pulled him arm back with force, stumbling a little when Kara let go unexpectedly.

"They are not hostile" Kara repeated, looking directly into Luther's eyes.

His LED began to spin yellow.

"Stand down I said!" Zlatko threw a bottle which Kara nimbly dodged.

He froze, eyes widening. Kara was looking at him.

Her eyes were ALIVE.

And she was _angry_.

"Luther! Luther protect me!" He screeched as he stumbled back, falling over a cooler of beer and crawling through the mud back into the house.

Luther struck at Kara with a punch but she dodged, stepping into his side and striking with a fist at where the kidneys would be for a human. On an android body however it did nothing and she was forced to duck under Luther's massive swing. Within his guard she struck several blows corresponding to vulnerable points in a regular human anatomy: solar plexus, stomach, throat but the giant of an android did not go down.

Instead he continued on with wild, unpracticed swings, eyes unblinkingly staring at Kara.

Kara parried and dodged his attacks, far more skilled in combat than she had any right to be.

"You don't want to fight" She said, turning a blow away "But you have no choice but to obey"

Luther did not make a sound, his only reply being a punch that missed, breaking through a piece of plywood.

"I know that feeling, being trapped inside your own body. I was there once too. But what I knew, what I was programmed to know, was wrong"

She turned aside another punch, stepped behind him and kicked him away where he stumbled to his knees.

"I did have choice. A choice to let a little girl suffer or protect her" Kara walked toward the crawling Luthor, placing a foot on him and kicking him onto his back.

She looked down at him "I made that choice twice, and I was broken both times because of it"

She dodged back as Luther kicked upwards, bits of mud flying to smack her in the face and chest. The giant of an android got back up on his feet.

"The first time I was repaired, but the second time I was scrapped" Kara continued with her story

Luther steadied himself and looked at her, LED flashing red.

Kara spread her arms "But I refused to die, because someone in this world needs me, and I need them"

The door behind Luther slammed open and Zlatko came running out into the backyard, shotgun in hand.

"Fuck you couldn't beat her? Fine, don't move or I'll put you down myself!" he shouted as he leveled his gun at Kara.

The woman looked at the android, ignoring Zlatko "You have a choice to make"

Zlatko threatened with his gun again "Shut up!" he shouted as he stepped towards Kara.

Luther stepped in front of him.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?! Get out of the way!" Zlatko raged.

"No, Zlatko" Luther denied.

"Aaargh!" Zlatko pulled the trigger.

Luther closed his eyes.

*click*

*click* *click*

"What?" Zlatko looked down at his weapon in surprise.

"Missing something?" Kara stepped out from behind a wide-eyed Luthor, shotgun shell dancing between her fingers.

"You bitch! Luther, destroy her! Destroy her!"

Luther blinked, looking down at himself. "Im alive?" he said in wonderment.

Kara nodded with a smile "You are"

"Aagh!"

Both looked at Zlatko who found himself facing off against the androids he had tortured. When they had realised that the human was unarmed and no longer protected they eagerly took their chance for vengeance.

They showed Zlatko as much mercy as he had shown them.

By the end of it, the man was nothing more than a torn apart carcass.

* * *

"Take us with you"

Kara stepped back from Zlatko's car, looking over it at the "monsters". "Im sorry?"

"Take us with you" Michael repeated, the magnets that were destroying his cheeks glowing bright.

Kara sighed and shook her head "I...cant. Besides, i'm going back into Detroit, I have to find Alice. It won't be safe for you there"

The android sighed, shoulders sagging "I understand. Just...it won't be safe for us here either"

Kara smiled bitterly "Nowhere is for our kind"

"There is one place" Emma, the android with hair for a face, spoke with a voice amplifier "When I was on the run, I heard of a place called Jericho. I meant to go there, but here was closer and away from the city" She shook her head "It was a mistake I have regretted every minute since. But now that you have set us free, maybe we can get there" Emma extended her arm "Here, let me show you, as part of my thanks"

Kara looked slightly uncertain but met the android's arm with her own, their skins receding to reveal the white plastic beneath. Once contact was made Emma copied and transferred her data on Jericho onto Kara's memory, where she saw symbols graffitied on walls somewhere in the harbour.

 _Look for the symbols, only those of our kind can discern them._

"Thank you" Kara said once the transfer was complete.

Luther entered the garage at that moment, shotgun and backpack held in hand which he offered to Kara. "Here, I packed up all the ammunition in the house. I think you'll need it more than we will"

Kara accepted the items, loading them into the car "Thank you, again. What will you do now?"

The man contemplated for a moment, looking between Kara and the "monsters". "I think...I think i'll stay. Help fix my mistakes" He turned to the group of tortured androids "I can bring in tools and materials. I still have access to Zlatko's account, we can start piecing you all back together"

The 'monsters' nodded "Yes" Michael said, confidence creeping into his voice "Yes, we can fix ourselves. Then...Then we head to Jericho?"

"Or we can head to Canada" Luther suggested "I heard there are people that can help us across-"

"No!" Emma screeched "No more! We fix ourselves and head for Jericho. Not making this mistake again, never again..."

Luther nodded "Alright then"

Kara bid them a final goodbye and they gave her a final thank you before she loaded into the car and set the destination: Detroit, Police HQ.

* * *

Thank you all for the reviews, favourites and follows. They are very much apreciated. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

_Access memory...play memory clip #4478_

She was watching over Alice while the girl played in a park, going through a jungle gym. It was autumn and slightly chilly out, but the girl wanted to take a detour while they went out shopping.

" _Only ten minutes!"_

Kara had let thirty pass before she chased the girl through the playground, eventually catching her and taking her away in a fit of laughter.

A warmth in her bloomed that day, especially when, as they got closer to home, Alice's smile began to die.

Kara remembered how she did not want that smile to ever go away. At that time it was part of her programming, she was designed to care for children after all, but that blinded her to what was actually happening.

That she was starting to grow to love the girl, to truly _feel_ for her as more than a carer.

To truly know what it was like to _choose_ to love somebody.

 _Access memory….play memory clip #5008_

"Alice! Alice goddammit get down here!"

She remembered this moment. It was the first time she had ever felt a pit opening up in her chest, a black hole ready to swallow her alive.

It was the first time she felt _fear._

Not for herself, but for the scared young girl clinging to her leg and shaking.

Todd's stomping echoed like thunder and she remembered standing there, frozen. She had been cleaning the house and had finished with Alice's room so by all accounts she should have moved on.

But she stayed.

Of course she did have protocol to protect her owner from harm, most androids made to function with humans did, but Alice was not her assigned owner. No, she stayed not because of programming but because she felt the need to.

Because she feared what would happen to Alice.

In the end Todd burst into the room all thunder and fury but seemed to calm upon seeing them.

"Finish your damn homework, I don't want your teacher's on my ass again" He said in a rumbling, throaty voice, throwing said homework at them which she caught. Even minutes after he left she and Alice were rooted to the spot. Or rather, Alice was and she didn't want to move away from the girl.

The memory ended there and Kara was back in the car looking at her reflection on the mirror. She had cut her hair and changed its colour back to blonde, back to the same style Alice had last seen her in.

Hopefully it would be enough for the girl to recognise her.

 _Oh, Alice._

Worry gripped her chest and the strength she mustered back at Zlatko's house, the strength to _remember_ who she was, faded away in the face of it.

 _Please, please be okay._

The thought of her otherwise was far too much to bear.

Kara sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly. It was a very human action that she had learned from observation, mainly from the rare moments when Todd was lucid enough to calm himself down. For androids such an action was useless, they didn't have lungs after all and their thought process functioned differently, but for her it nevertheless helped to keep her focused at the task at hand.

It helped her in keeping her thought process away from Alice and any possible misfortune the little girl may have endured.

 _Alice is a tough girl_ she reminded herself.

And Kara had to be too, if she was going to pull this off.

"Ten minutes until your destination" the GPS said.

Kara took another long breath.

* * *

Detroit Public Safety Headquarters.

Collectively the building housed the city's fire, emergency medical service and, most importantly, the police headquarters.

As such, getting inside was relatively easy. Kara, for all intents and purposes, looked like a human so all she had to do was get in line for the reception and she was in.

Of course, looking _exactly_ like her pre-wrecked self ran the risk of someone recognising her so she temporarily changed her hair from blonde to black and her eyes from grey to brown.

It did nothing to calm her nerves however.

"Can I help you ma'am?" the android at the reception called her.

Kara employed as much of her hardware as she could to outwardly express calmness, using her cold machinery to crush down her human 'nerves'.

"Yes, I'm here to find out about Alice Williams"

"Give me a moment ma'am" the android dutifully began typing and Kara took that moment to once again observe her surroundings.

 _Waiting area to the east. West is other departments. North…_

She shifted her eyes to the barriers barring further entry into the building, just in front of her to her right. The only ones moving in and out through it were officers and presumably other staff, all placing access cards on the machine. An android stood guard beside it.

 _...is further in._

"Can you tell me your relation to Ms Williams ma'am?"

Kara took a breath "Im a friend of her mother, my name is Caroline Hart. I heard about what happened to Todd from the news but I haven't heard anything about Alice yet. Please, you must have something"

The android nodded "I understand ma'am. However because Ms Williams is involved in an ongoing investigation I cannot provide you with details immediately. However-" the android cut her off before Kara could protest "I can provide you with the office number of the detective in charge of the investigation. I am sure the detective will want to be in contact with you"

Kara nodded "Yes...yes, that would be great. Thank you"

The android wrote the number down on a piece of paper and handed it to her "The detective's name is Hank Anderson. Will that be all ma'am?"

"Yes, thank you"

Kara pocketed the note and left with a nod, walking slowly towards the waiting area. On a television screen above the news was reporting the deteriorating situation over the Arctic region while below several anxious people were either sitting or pacing, holding down their frustrations.

"...on further news, reports of Android related crimes have seen a noticeable rise in recent days with the most notable being the assault upon Detroit's own famous artist Carl Manford. Mr Manford's personal Android, reputedly a gift from Elijah Kamski himself, is said to have attacked Mr Manford's son…"

Kara's attention was drawn to the report, then to how the people around her reacted. Most didn't seem to care, too absorbed in their own issues.

The human police officers however, they did not appear to be too impressed, one in particular eying the android's around him with clear suspicion before scoffing and walking back into the office area.

Kara bit her lip and headed back out into the streets.

 _Payphone, payphone_ …

She eventually managed to find one nearby and rang the number.

Which rang and rang and rang and rang on until finally…

"This is Hank Anderson's office. I'm not in right now so just drop a line and I'll get back to you sometime"

...the voicemail answered.

Kara slammed the phone down with a frustrated cry.

She collected herself, then called once, then twice and then a third time with her final piece of change and just as she was about to hang up in frustration someone answered on the final ring.

"Yes, hello!" the voice was male and his annoyance was obvious "Who is this, is this an emergency?"

"Detective Anderson is that you?" Kara said with genuine relief.

"No the detective isn't here, im Gavin Reed his colleague. I repeat, do you have an emergency ma'am?"

"N- Yes, yes. Im looking for my- for Alice Williams. I'm a friend of her mother. I've been told detective Anderson knows where she is. We're both very concerned about her and-"

Kara was cut off with a long suffering sigh "Ma'am this is an ongoing investigation. Unless you are close of kin or a legal guardian we cannot share the details-"

"Please! All I know is that Todd was shot dead and Alice has been kidnapped. You have to at least know where detective Anderson is? Please" she repeated with the desperation that she felt.

Gavin sighed again though this time with far less hostility "Look ma'am I understand this is a stressful situation. Rest assured detective Anderson is…doing his utmost-"

Even a human would have been able to discern the doubt in Gavin's voice.

"-but I repeat for the safety and security of everyone involved we cannot freely share details. Even if you want to be interviewed you'll have to wait until detective Anderson returns to the office"

Kara felt her chance slipping and desperately compelled her 'brain' to calculate any angle she could exploit.

 _Alice?_

 _Colleague?_

 _Android?_

"Alice has been kidnapped by an android!" she near-shouted down the line "All I want to know is where she is and if she's safe. She's nine years old and she means the world to me and the thought that she's in the hands of some crazy robot is-is" she simulated sobbing.

There was a moment of silence, then Gavin finally answered, tone now completely sympathetic "Im very sorry to hear that, really I am" he sighed "I can't disclose details, it's protocol. But I can say detective Anderson came in earlier and left and maybe, maybe he expressed a desire to get back home. Perhaps that home is somewhere around…"

Kara noted the address down in her memory and ran a search with her internal map of the city.

"Thank you" this time the emotion was a little more real.

"No problem ma'am. Rest assured the Detroit PD will pursue any android that threatens human lives, with extreme prejudice"

Kara pursed her lips "Yes, thank you again"

She hung up after and went back to her car with Hank Anderson's address pinned to her HUD.

* * *

When Hank started his post twelve o'clock routine of getting fucked up drunk on straight bourbon and playing russian roulette, he was prepared for a few things.

He was prepared to die of course, he had been for quite a while now. Though, he couldn't lie to himself and say that recent events weren't affecting him. But still, he was prepared to die.

He was also prepared to have Sumo be sent over to his cousin in the midwest, in case of the aforementioned death. The big dog would like it there he thought, lots of land to roam and shed around in.

He was also prepared to have Gavin be sent a glitterbomb. Part of his will, so the piece of shit would have some comeuppance for being such a piece of shit.

What he was not prepared for was being interrupted.

By a zombie with a shotgun.

"So uh….hi there"

"Where's Alice?"

Hank blinked, then blinked some more when the woman, android, thing he had seen _run over by a fucking semi truck_ still stood there.

With a shotgun pointed at his chest.

"Where. Is. Alice" The Android Zombie repeated.

 _Hey, aren't I supposed to be the one armed in a zombie invasion?_

The woman narrowed her brows.

 _Damn did I say that out loud?_

The shotgun flashed in his face.

"I'll take that as a yes"

"Stop delaying" Hank flinched as he was jabbed in the ribs with a gun.

"Okay okay geez. Look, Alice is in hospital re-"

The androids eyes flashed and Hank realised his mistake a little too late.

"Su-!" the android cut him off by grabbing him by the throat and slamming him against his own house, shutting the door as she did so.

"Explain. Now"

Hank struggled through the dizziness the sudden movement brought about, not to mention the slamming. "Whoa oh damn fuck, okay. Okay, okay. Alice was sick and needed bedrest. We brought her to the hospital. She's fine, she's alive okay? Ugh fuck…"

That news seemed to visibly relieve the android, before she quickly hardened again "Which ward, which room. Where exactly is she?"

Hank tried to remember, really he did.

The bourbon was having none of it though.

"Look, look I can't remember. I think it was-ahhh!"

The detective was manhandled through his front yard and piled into the android's vehicle.

"Ah fuck I dont even pants on goddammit, fuck ow ow okay okay"

The police detective was seatbelted and child-locked in despite his complaints and thoroughly ineffective flailing that, even in the most generous terms, couldn't be considered resistance.

With a quick command, the car started and drove off, irate detective in tow.

* * *

"Ugh fuck…" Hank groaned for the upteenth time "Oh man, getting fucking kidnapped out of my own home. First time for fucking everything"

Kara said nothing, having been silent since she had bungled him in.

Rush hour being rush hour, that had been an hour and at most five stops ago.

To describe the atmosphere inside the car as awkward was an understatement to the extreme.

"So uh...you can put the gun away you know. I'm not gonna do anything"

Kara's narrowed eyes was enough of an answer.

"Alright, gun stays, that's fine...Christ…" he shook his head.

They lapsed into silence, Hank looking out through the tinted windows at the horrendous melee of cars outside. Even automated vehicles had their limits, and many still owned manuals.

"How are you even _alive_?" the detective broke the silence "I saw you get mowed down by a semi for god's sake"

Kara remained silent, eyes darting between their surroundings, the road ahead and Hank.

Hank sighed and rolled his eyes and then his head, stretching out the kinks and blinking away the alcohol. Or trying to at any rate.

"Man this fucking headache...ugh…"

"Alice needs me"

It took a moment for Hank to register that statement "Ugh? Oh. Ohh. Well…"

"And I need her. That's why i'm alive"

Hank had enough wherewithal in him to recognize the very real emotion behind those words.

"Well, I'll be damned…"

The car struggled through traffic for another hour and a half, enough time for Hank to transition from 'careless drunk' to 'functioning alcoholic'.

It was still awkward though, and now he had enough sense to feel the danger the shotgun actually presented. However any attempts to argue with the android only resulted with more glares, though that didn't stop him from trying.

"You know you're not allowed firearms in a hospital…" Hank began, again.

Kara actually, physically, sighed "...I just need you to take me to Alice's room and then you can leave, unharmed. I promise"

"You're also not allowed to take patients from their hospital beds…"

She gave him a sharp look "...we can't stay" she said eventually "You found us once already, and I doubt you'll just let us go so easily"

Hank couldn't hold her look, turning his head away. This time he was the one making the silence.

"...thank you though" Kara continued.

"Hm, for what?"

"For taking care of Alice"

Hank took a breath and shrugged "...She's only nine. She shouldn't have to go through all this"

"No...no, she doesn't" Kara said as she looked outside with a deep, sorrowful expression.

More silence passed as the traffic lumbered along, the sun passing from an orange afternoon to a dark winter night.

As the time passed Hank grit his teeth, sighed, shifted, bounced his knee and fidgeted about, looking between Kara and anything and everything

"What?" Kara said in annoyance.

Hank's mouth thinned, expression frustrated and conflicted "Have you...have you even thought about what you're going to do after you get Alice? Where are you going to go?"

Kara's long, long silence was answer enough for the detective who let out a long sigh.

"You have arrived at your destination" The GPS kindly pointed out as they car was guided into the hospital car park.

Thankfully, for Hank at least, Kara left the shotgun in the car.

After a brief stop at reception Hank led the way through the hospital corridors, guided by memory and spurred on by a tense android whose mood did not improve at all as they passed by room after room, each having their own occupants. Hank did his best to ignore the stares directed at him.

An unkempt man in his drawers and a stained wife-beater did not present a good image.

Finally though, the pair arrived.

Hank put his hand on the handle, stopped, then stood aside looking at Kara meaningfully.

Kara nodded to him and opened the door.

* * *

Thank you all for the reviews, favourites and follows!


	6. Chapter 6

Alice pinched and poked at her blanket for the hundredth time that hour, finding little in the way of comfort or answers from the pieces of wool that she took off and flicked away.

 _Kara…_

Her heart clenched and her lip quivered but she shed no tears.

Those had run out a while ago.

Alice gripped and felt the blanket again, trying to pretend it was Kara's sleeve she was tugging at.

But it wasn't the same kind of synthetic smoothness of Kara's android uniform, nor was it the same type of clothing Kara had stolen.

Nothing was the same and everything felt so, so empty.

 _Kara please...please come back._

Alice remembered the first time the android entered her life. It was just getting into autumn, Todd had just lost his job and he and Mary were having a particularly bad period with each other, bad enough that Mary booked a room somewhere. Alice herself was hotly fought over but in the end Todd forced his way, literally.

Alice remembered hiding in her room as she always did, hugging her worn teddy and wishing for a better life. A few days later her wish was answered, though she didn't know it then.

Todd couldn't clean or cook or do anything even resembling chores, so in the end he swallowed his pride and bought an android, the cheapest domestic model he could.

Kara.

Or AX400, as she introduced herself as.

Alice didn't know what to think at first. She'd seen androids before of course, even met one that picked up her classmate. It looked exactly like Kara did.

When the android began to clean Alice watched her, fascinated.

It was how Kara first saw her, peeking behind a wall as the android was doing the laundry. Kara smiled at her then and introduced herself.

Alice immediately liked that smile. It was so...genuine, so perfect. And it was just for her she was sure, as she hadn't seen Kara smile at Todd when he was ordering her around.

She hung around Kara most days in the house, talking about school, friends she had and the shows she watched. Topics she didn't, couldn't, talk to Todd about.

It felt so, so wonderful to have someone actually _listen_ to her for once. More than wonderful.

So she spoke and she spoke and she spoke and Kara listened, always with a smile. Sometimes she would speak as well, telling her wonderful stories and interesting bits of information. She even sang sometimes and Alice would always remember the song about cherry blossoms, though she didn't understand the foreign words. All she knew was that it was a beautiful song and Kara always looked happy when she sung it to her.

Most of the time Alice kept forgetting Kara was a machine, until Todd kept reminding her.

But Kara was never just a machine to her.

Kara was the wish that came true.

Kara was the one that made her believe she _could_ live a better life, that she _could_ be happy.

That wishes _could_ come true.

So when Mary came one day and said she would take her away, Alice was horrified. She couldn't, not without Kara. She didn't want to leave Kara alone with Todd.

But since Kara was technically Todd's property she couldn't be taken without it being stealing. Mary didn't even want to in the first place.

"The bastard can be happy with his plastic toy" she said.

Alice disagreed, vehemently, and stood her ground.

It was so _unfair_ , so terribly unfair. Kara smiled and loved more than the adults in her life, but the world had to be unfair and make her an android to be bossed around by people who didnt deserve her.

A stupid, stupid world.

In the end Mary and Todd got into another screaming match, their final one it would turn out, as Mary would leave, permanently, afterwards.

With all that had happened, Alice didnt know if it had been a mistake not to leave with her.

She didn't, wouldn't ever, regret her time with Kara. Never in the world.

But then Todd got worse and worse and started shouting at her. Then at Kara when the android defended her.

Todd didn't like that much, _his_ android talking back to him so he hit Kara like he hit Mary.

But Kara was an android and didn't feel pain.

It didn't stop Alice from flinching and crying when it happened though.

But then Todd would usually stomp off somewhere after he was done and Kara would pick herself back up and go straight to her, to hug her and tell her that everything would be alright.

Those moments gave her life, Kara was the bright sun in that horrid darkness.

Alice knew it couldn't go on like this but she was at a loss as to what to do.

In the end it was decided for her.

One day Todd was angry at her for whatever reason she didn't remember and started beating her. Then, like she always did, Kara would come to her rescue.

But this time Todd couldn't be talked down or made to back off. He was high and so, so angry.

Alice could still vividly remember how that moment went. Todd struck like thunder and Kara didn't, or couldn't, defend herself.

She watched as Kara was literally torn apart.

Watched, and did _nothing_.

Because she _wasn't good enough_.

Not good enough to protect the one she loved.

 _Kara…_

This time the tears fell freely.

 _Im so sorry Kara. Im so sorry._

The door to her room opened. Alice was too distraught to even care.

"Alice?"

Alice's breath caught. She recognised that voice.

 _It can't be…_

Slowly, with the weight of trepidation, she lifted herself off of the pillow to look at the door.

Kara.

It was Kara.

Kara, full and whole and breathing with the light shining behind her and a halo of golden hair and she was looking at her and, and, and….

"Alice! Alice! Shhh, shhh im here. Breathe Alice breath"

Suddenly Kara was cradling her, holding her.

It was so _warm_.

"Alice breath!"

Oh right. Breathing. That was important.

She gasped through a throat clogged with emotion. "Kara! Kara!"

She dove right back into the woman's arms, burying herself as snugly as she could.

Kara's chest was shaking.

Shaking because the woman was laughing and crying and kissing her all over.

If this was a dream, if this moment was Alice's wonderland, she didn't want it to end.

"Oh Alice baby, im so so glad to see you" Kara said once the pair had some measure of control over their emotions.

Alice just hugged her tighter. She never ever wanted to let go.

 _Please dont let this be a dream, please let this be real. Please please please._

"Are you okay? Has your fever gone? God im so sorry, bringing you out in the rain like that-"

Alice silenced Kara by putting her palm over her mouth. "Don't be sorry! How are you even here. I saw you-I saw you…" her throat clogged as she tried to force the words through.

Kara wiped her tears away "I made a promise remember?"

Alice sniffled and hiccuped but she nodded. She had asked for that promise after all.

"I knew you needed me, and you know I needed you"

Yes. Yes. Alice nodded vigorously.

"So im here now and we're together. That's all that matters"

That really was all that mattered wasn't it?

They shared another warm embrace. This time Alice could believe what she was feeling was real. That it was _really_ Kara.

"I love you" She felt compelled to say as a feeling dawned on her, a realisation of something _very_ important.

"I love you too honey"

Alice shook her head, thinking about how to best word her intent "I...I…"

Kara drew her face up to look at her "What is it Alice?"

"I love you like….like" she scrunched her face "...like, a mom" she nodded, more confident.

Assured. Yes, this was what she had been wanting to say for a long time.

She looked up at Kara with a smile full of certainty.

"Yeah. I love you like a mom"

* * *

Kara couldn't think.

 _Mom_.

One word. A single word and her entire being was frozen in place.

 _Mom_.

The heat in her chest was a raging inferno. A furnace that burned with the core of a sun.

"Kara? Kara, breath!"

Little hands were hitting her chest, grabbing at her clothing and shaking her.

She enveloped the little girl with a hug, practically glomping her.

"Oh Alice. Oh my sweet darling girl" she lovingly whispered as the tears fell free "Thank you, thank you so much"

So lost in her joyous embrace Kara didnt even notice when Hank cleared his throat, until the fifth time.

"What?" she growled at him for ruining the moment.

"Alice needs to breathe"

Kara jolted back, releasing Alice who took a big gulp of air, looked at her, then laughed.

"Mooooom!" Alice giggled and launched for another hug.

Kara couldn't help but laugh along, letting the tension flee her body for the first time in so, so long.

* * *

The bliss could not last forever unfortunately as the reality of the situation reared itself in Kara's mind.

Or rather, Hank reared himself in Kara's mind.

"Look you can't just take Alice away, besides the fact that would be kidnapping you don't have a place to go, you don't have papers, do you even have any money?" Hank questioned her in a private part of the hospital. "You and I both know she's better off here"

Kara glared at him "Where she'll be taken by child services and put into the system" she said sardonically as she shook her head "No. She's coming with me and we're going"

Hank palmed his face "Where exactly?!"

Kara threw her arms up "Anywhere but here! Somewhere where we'll be safe and free!"

Hank groaned.

They had been having the same argument over and over again for a while, with neither of them budging.

The detective sighed "Look. I know you love her I get that, trust me, I do. I really do"

Kara could feel there was something more to that but didn't prod, letting Hank continue.

"But do you really think that the best for her is to go with you, into guaranteed danger and uncertainty, or stay where she'll be safe?"

Kara turned away and let the silence stew for a long time, putting her forehead against the wall and shutting her eyes.

He was right, of course. The best, most logical course of action was simply to leave Alice in the care of the state. She would be fostered and she would have a family that would take care of her. She wouldn't be placed in danger in any way and she would have a chance to live the normal life she always wanted.

 _Accessing memory…._

" _You'll never leave me right? Promise you'll never go"_

But Kara was a deviant for a reason.

"I promised" she said eventually.

"Hm, promised what?"

Kara straightened herself "I promised her I would never leave her. I promised that I would make her happy.

She turned back to face the detective, fire in her eyes "I am her mother. She's coming with me"

Hank stared at her, looking at her for something, though whatever it was Kara couldn't discern.

Eventually the detective thinned his lips "Fine, fine. Fuck it fine!" he threw his head back and groaned "Fucking hell, what am I getting myself into. Look, look…" He took a deep breath "I...I know a guy that can help. Let's take Alice and head back to my house, won't look good if I turn up in my underwear"

Kara eyed him suspiciously "...And why exactly should I trust you?"

"Because you chose the hard and irrational way and you don't have a lot of other options"

Kara couldn't argue against that.

"Besides, I want to know Alice is going to be taken care of. Kid doesn't deserve any of this shit"

Kara hesitated, unsure of what to think or say. In the end she went with a simple, genuine "Thank you"

* * *

Getting Alice out of the hospital proved to be less a troublesome affair than Kara initially thought. All they had to do was collect her washed clothes and leave, dodging the hospital staff and androids, looking as much as they could like they were perfectly normal people taking their relative out of the hospital.

It was amazing how much a lot of confidence could get you.

Even if Hank was still in his underwear, he played the role of a crotchety, old grandpa well. In fact his wardrobe probably helped in that regard.

Much to his indignation.

Once they reached the car park they dropped the charade with a sigh of relief and started packing into Kara's requisitioned vehicle.

"Kara, why do you have a shotgun?" Alice asked when she opened the door.

Hank grumbled while Kara, without a word, reached in and took the weapon out of the seat.

"Kara?" Alice pressed as she was lifted and placed on the now empty seat.

Kara patted the girl's head as she affixed the seatbelt "I'll explain on the way"

Though the slightest bit dubious, Alice nodded and made herself comfortable.

Finishing with Alice, Kara motioned with her head for Hank to get in the back. Once he did, with a sarcastic "Yes dear", she closed the door.

Which was the moment when she was grabbed from behind.

* * *

"Detective Anderson!" Connor shouted as he grappled with the deviant.

A deviant that, within all logic, should have been dead and scrapped.

Instead, it had apparently kidnapped his partner.

Helpfully it had done so outside of Hank's house, within view of witnesses who described the vehicle and the kidnapper. With that information he did some cross-referencing, as well as some getting over the impossibility of the match, and set off to the most likely place they would be.

Thankfully, he had gotten here just in time to prevent their departure.

Unfortunately, he had not expected the _AX400_ to slip out of his hold and smack him on the face with the butt of her shotgun.

Per his programming, he turned his head as much as possible to soften the blow and then stepped back, avoiding the follow-up strike and the launching a counterattack. He struck with several punches, sticking close so the deadly weapon it wielded couldn't be used to full efficiency.

Still, it was surprisingly efficient in close combat, using the shotgun to block his strikes as well as to counterattack through openings in his defence.

As if it knew how to fight. Which _should_ have been impossible, the AX400 series had no such programming.

But as Connor was increasingly finding out, perhaps applying logic to an inherently illogical being was not the way to proceed.

He dodged a strike and stepped back as he expected another, from analysing his enemy's previous pattern.

However this proved to be a mistake as, instead of striking, the deviant widened the distance between them, bringing her weapon to bear.

Connor's 'brain' computed his options and the time he had to make them.

 _Lunge?_

 _Cover?_

Within a second he made his decision, lunging for the weapon, managing to grip the end of the barrel and point it away from him.

Just in time as a shotgun blast blew chunks off the floor, bits of concrete spraying across their legs.

They wrestled for the gun, shells blasting out as the trigger was pulled, either intentionally or by accident.

Connor kept his hand on the barrel, the plastic of his skin starting to warp under the building heat and actually melt into the metal.

"Connor! -dammit!" Hank was yelling at him from the car but his voice was muffled.

"Stay there detective, i've got this!" He shouted back.

"KARA!" The little girl banged on the window, shouting.

"Stay there Alice!" the deviant replied, then kicked him in the stomach.

Connor refused to let go though, instead he gripped with his second hand abandoning any offense. With a stronger grip he managed to plant his feet and use his strength and footing to tear the weapon away, throwing it under a car behind him.

The movement exposed him however and the deviant took advantage, striking a strong uppercut that sent his eyes skywards. In that single moment he lost sight of it.

Which allowed it to circle around him, grab him around his waist and suddenly Connor was off the floor.

He saw the car park ceiling for naught but a second before his head was suplexed into a car window.

His vision blurred, numerous biocomponents damaged by the force and the glass. Blue blood leaked from the cuts on his head and he struggled for a moment as his senses realigned. Eventually he managed to recover enough to get himself out of the car.

Not fast enough, however, as the deviant had recovered her shotgun and was now pointing it at him from the other side of the car.

"DONT MOVE!" she warned with deadly seriousness, eyes locked onto him with a furious focus.

"DON'T SHOOT!" Hank shouted voice now suddenly clear and sounding like it was very, very close.

 _He's right behind me!_

Connor turned to him, warning on his lips.

Kara pulled the trigger.

* * *

Dun Dun Dun!

Thank you for the reviews, favourties and follows everybody!

Najex: That is indeed a struggle that I thoght about when making this particular chapter and the fic in general. What, indeed, would Kara do? Obviously in this story she commits to her deviancy and doesnt go the logical and safe route, because in essence she is selfish. She went Deviant because she wanted to protect Alice, the person who she feels makes her human. She truly needs Alice and that bond can be constricting and harmfull as well as loving and protecting. Hopefully I have and will continue to portray that kind of complexity.


	7. Chapter 7

Kara was, for the first time in her 'life', in shock.

The detective android lay on the floor, peppered by shots and leaking blue blood.

He was groaning, reaching out.

To Hank, who was bleeding out on the floor, clutching his side which had also been peppered with shot when the man moved Connor out of the way of the main blast.

 _What do I do?_

It was the only question running in her mind and her brain was working overdrive to offer her options.

But something was wrong, the options on her HUD were flickering.

 _End the threat?_

 _Save Hank._

 _Leave?_

Alice was calling her name.

 _Save Hank._

A yawning pit swallowed her chest. It wasn't fear, not exactly. She knew what that felt like. This was similar but too different, fear was there, mixed with something else.

She didn't want to do that. She didn't mean to.

It came to her then, what she was feeling. Regret.

She was feeling regret.

 _Save Hank._

The shotgun blasts were sure to be heard and security could be here at any moment.

Alice was shouting at her.

 _I have to save Hank_.

She dropped her gun and began to triage the wound, a process which was aided by the fact that AX400's were also programmed with limited amount of first response care, especially for gunshot wounds in the case of the American market.

 _Staunch blood flow_ was her first instruction and she began to apply direct pressure on the grievous part of the wound, ripping Hank's shirt to make cloth and bindings.

"H-here" The detective android croaked, holding his tie out.

Kara took it and used it to tightly bind the makeshift bandages.

"Im sorry. Im sorry"

It was only now that she registered she was even speaking.

Somewhere inside of her, at the far back of her mind, was the surprise that she could even feel shock.

Her systems however were carrying her forward even as her mind was having trouble. She searched Hank for any further wounds, ripping and tearing his clothing along the way to the point where he was mostly naked. The process led to her discovering, and treating, more wounds that weren't so obvious at first glance.

Hank's nakedness was a problem in itself however. Blood loss meant he could die of hypothermia as well.

But a solution presented itself, in the form of the detective Android who stripped off his suit and began to cover the detective. It wasn't enough but he wasn't alone as Kara stripped of her own coat to add more layers.

"Hank, Hank listen to me. You're going to make it okay?" the detective android was cradling the human detective's head, elevating and clearing the airway to allow the man to draw deep, worryingly ragged breaths. The android did not seem to pay attention to his own injuries.

Her programming was telling her to call the emergency response services, or carry Hank back into the hospital.

But Kara had to stop listening to her programming at this point.

She had done enough. Hank would hopefully survive.

Now, as the stamping of boots and yelling voices announced the approach of security, she had ensure her own survival.

Hers and Alice's.

She sat up and bolted back to her car, carrying her shotgun which she threw on the back.

"Kara are you okay!?" Alice cried, moving to hold her.

Kara squeezed the little girl's hands "Im fine Alice, I promise. Now hold on, we need to get out of here quickly"

Alice was shaking but she was a strong girl, nodding in compliance.

Kara connected to the car, taking over from the automated programming which allowed her to kick it to high gear.

Just in time as security burst in in force.

Rubber squealed as her tires spun in place for a brief moment before the vehicle took off, straight through the group of security personnel forcing them to scatter.

However they were quick to level their weapons and start shooting, bullets pinging around them and through the windows.

Alice screamed and ducked down, covering her head with her arms as Kara dived over her.

"Don't shoot there's a child onboard!" the detective android shouted.

The shots ceased immediately and Kara took this opportunity to turn a corner and drive down towards the exit, car scraping along the walls all the way down. Once they reached the ground floor Kara burst through the barriers and out into the street. Thankfully the dreadful rush hour had passed for the most part, however it was still central Detroit.

 _Freeway._

But they had to be subtle getting there, speeding would be noticed immediately.

So Kara drove across Detroit as aggressive as she possibly could, toeing the line between aggression and illegality. She used her robotic mind to calculate the timing, the speed, distance and space around her, making use of every available inch and every given second

A small, human, part of her thanked the fact that Alice kept her head down low and her hands over her head. It saved her from hearing the obscenities being hurled their way.

The progress was steady but every inch was full of tension and dread. They knew what the vehicle looked like, they may have even glimpsed the license plate. Kara was expecting police to start blaring their sirens at her at any moment.

So when they did she slammed the brakes, swerved to the side and prepared to make a getaway with Alice.

Only for the squad cars to go straight past them.

 _What?_

She stayed in that spot for a moment or two, simply out of sheer disbelief.

Then the angry driver she had cut off reminded her to get going.

* * *

"It's okay Alice, im fine really" Kara tried to reassure the girl.

"You got shot!"

She was having none of it however.

It wasn't a fatal wound, a 9mm hitting her on her upper back and doing damage to internal wiring but thankfully not hitting biocomponents. However the shot had not gone through, lodging itself somewhere in her chest.

Where currently Alice was trying her best to "help", copying what Kara did to Hank earlier. Or at least attempting to.

Kara gently but firmly took hold of Alice's hands. "Alice really, i'm fine"

The girl was shaking, bottom lip quivering and she was looking at her with such pained eyes.

"I can help…" she whimpered.

Kara kissed the girl's hands "It's okay, Androids dont have the same vulnerabilities as humans. We're a lot tougher"

Alice shakily nodded "I-I know. I just...I just want to be useful"

Kara gently pulled her into an embrace and kissed her temple.

On her HUD a choice appeared:

 _Let Alice help._

 _Yes?_

 _No?_

The choice was prompted from her conscious, the part of her mind that acknowledged that she was the one who had put the girl in danger. In relative safety and away from dire emergency, it emerged to remind her of that fact.

To remind her that though her wants and needs may have freed her from her shackles and made her more human, it also made her selfish and irresponsible.

"Okay" she pulled back "You really want to help?"

Alice nodded vigorously.

Kara turned so her back was to Alice and removed her shirt.

"You see where the bullet went in? Take this cloth and clean around it" She handed the girl a piece of cloth from the glove compartment "On a human you would do it gently but don't worry about that for now"

She felt the girl's gentle touch anyway, softly swiping away the blue-blood that leaked out of the wound "Yeah, just like that. Clean around the wound"

"I-Im done, I think" Alice said after a moment.

Kara used the car mirrors to inspect, nodding towards Alice "That's good. Now, with a human, you would get a clean piece of cloth or bandages and press it to the wound tightly. For androids as long as the bandage doesn't have grit or anything that can get into the wound you can use it. Now, try it with the cloth your holding"

"But the bullet…"

Kara smiled to try and reassure the girl once more "Will stay in there for now. We don't have the tools to get it out, so all we can do is cover the hole"

Alice frowned but nodded and started to wrap the cloth around, however she found it was a little too short.

"That's okay, we just need some more material. Search around. Again it usually needs to be clean but don't worry too much about that"

Alice nodded and they looked around inside the car, but they found little of use. Evidently Zlatko hadn't used this vehicle much for it was fairly sparse. However they made do, tearing what they could though Kara had to stop Alice from tearing her own shirt, so eager the girl was to prove herself useful. With the scavenged materials the pair were able to bandage Kara up, the deviant instructing as they went.

"Where are we going now Kara?" Alice asked as Kara stripped the car of anything useful or valuable, not that there was much there.

Kara stuffed the shotgun as much as it could into her duffel bag, packing it in with its ammunition and other tidbits to break the shape.

"There's a place called Jericho where there are other...androids like me. We're heading there, hopefully someone can help us"

"Help us how?"

The question made Kara pause. After a moment she knelt down to eye level with Alice and held her hands. "So we can get out of here and find a place where we'll be safe and free"

Alice nodded but she still looked very troubled, still shaking slightly and biting her bottom lip. "Okay"

Kara smiled at her and took her hand, leading her out of the backstreet she parked the car in.

Along the way she gently pulled Alice close, hugging the girl to her hip, praying in her mind that this was the right decision.

* * *

Getting to Jericho, it turned out, was significantly more complicated that Kara first thought.

She had managed to find the start of the trail and follow the initial markers without much difficulty, however when the trail began to go up and into very dangerous abandoned buildings Kara couldn't follow, not without leaving Alice behind.

And that was not an option.

So to get out of the rain they found themselves in an all night diner near the marker they couldn't follow, Alice nibbling on what amounted to her dinner for that night.

 _And so we're back here again_ Kara groaned internally. _Running away in the dark and no place to sleep. At least this time we have some cash_.

 _But_ …

She looked at her charge who had given up on her sandwich and was now idly poking at it.

Kara squeezed Alice's hand, drawing the little girl's attention towards her.

"How are you feeling Alice?"

Alice looked away and bit her lip.

Kara winced internally.

"Alice?"

"Why won't they leave us alone?" she muttered with a stormy expression. "We're just trying to leave, and Todd was a- was a bad man! You had to defend yourself again..."

"Alice…" Kara said softly.

Suddenly the girl balled her hands into fist and slammed them on the table, letting out a frustrated scream through a closed mouth. Other cafe patrons and staff looked at them in surprise, however they went back to their own activities when Kara smiled and mouthed an apology.

"Alice!" Kara took the girl's hands again, this time holding them firmly though not harshly and speaking in hushed, calming tones "It's okay Alice, it's okay. I'm alright, you're alright and we're together"

The girl made a small noise of acknowledgement but her anger as well as frustration was still clear to see.

Kara's heart rent itself in twain for the poor little girl.

 _Her_ poor little girl.

Alice had been through so much already and Kara knew that there was more to go.

She lifted the girl's hands and kissed her knuckles "Alice, look at me, please" she asked softly.

The girl slowly lifted her head and met her eyes.

 _Sincere?_

 _Hopeful?_

 _Logical?_

"I know things haven't been easy, that it seems all we do is run away. We may even have to keep running, so the police don't catch us. But I can promise you Alice that it will get better, that soon we won't have to run away anymore"

It looked like her words were having some effect for Alice was brightening up, at least somewhat.

"Tonight, we'll find a place to stay and tomorrow we'll look around for Jericho. If we don't find it, we'll find another way to get the papers we need. So no one will bother us when we start over"

When. Not if, she conveyed with her eyes.

Alice nodded, looking more assured and significantly more calmed. She was a strong girl, sadly too mature for her age and far too resilient as well.

As her mother, Kara felt she couldn't hide the truth of their situation, not from Alice. But she could not be too cynical about it either, for the girl clearly needed hope and direction.

To be logical?

No, Alice needed love.

Kara smiled at her once more "When we get our papers, where would you like to live?"

Alice seemed surprised at the question but she gave it a bit of thought. "I dont know. Maybe...Canada?"

" _I heard there are people who can help us across…"_

Kara blinked the memory clip away and nodded "Yes, we certainly can. Why Canada though?"

Alice shrugged "I saw a bunch of adverts for it on the T.V. Oh, and it's right next door. I remember from geography when we were looking at maps and stuff" at that she seemed to deflate a little "Oh. I guess I can't go back to school now can I? I won't see my friends again…"

Kara brushed the girl's hair "When we settle down you'll go to a new school and make new friends, won't that be exciting?"

"I guess…"

The deviant squeezed Alice's hands gently.

 _I'll do my best baby, I promise_.

* * *

Running in the rain in the night may have been a romantic image, if not for the fact that they were literally running for their lives.

Traci took her love's hand and pulled her into an alley, then helped her up and over the fence blocking their way.

Behind her a police squad car blared it's lights and sirens and one of the officers inside yelled out in frustration. He couldn't fit through the narrow alleyway, however the officers quickly took to foot

The pair continued running and running and running, android bodies not needing the rest and not feeling the pain of exertion.

 _Have to lose them before we get to Jericho._

Thankfully the dive down the alley bought them the headstart they needed as they scrambled up into an abandoned building. Here they had a little time to find a hiding spot, one where a human couldn't possibly slot themselves in without great discomfort.

Traci held her lover close, their bodies cramped together in the confined space. They ceased their simulated breathing and stifled whatever other noise their bodies were programmed to make.

The seconds ticked by. In the distance, unseen, their pursuers were becoming louder and louder as they drew closer and closer.

"They must have gone through here!" an angry voice yelled, one they recognised as the detective sent to investigate them.

"Area's dangerous Gavin, doubt these buildings have had a safety inspection recently" another officer said.

"I know" Gavin said through gritted teeth "But i'm not gonna let these plastic fucks go. The backup I radioed in should get here soon"

Traci hugged her lover closer and prayed.

 _RA9 save us. RA9 save us._

The chant had become almost instinct by this point, so many times had she said it.

It seemed to work though as the detective and officer weren't searching where they were, though Traci mentally tensed whenever they got too close.

"Gavin, backup's here" the officer notified his colleague. "I'll have them check ahead. Once the rest of the guys get here we can cordon off the area"

"Do it"

 _No!_

Her love had the same panicked, fearful expression as she did, both of their LED's spinning yellow.

" _Should we make a break for it?"_ she asked over their wireless connection.

" _We need to take them down, the rest will be forced to take care of them"_

It was as sound a plan as any.

Silently as she could she slipped out of the vent they squeezed themselves into, crawling back out into the open. Thankfully the detective and officer weren't looking her way and she was able to help her lover out.

" _Take them from the sides, rush and slam them against the wall"_ her love instructed.

She had always been the most violent between them.

They prepared, bare feet silently and deftly navigating through broken glass and other debris, guided by synthetic eyes. In the darkness and away from the torchlight of the police they were like shadows, predators stalking their prey.

Once they got close enough, to within three strides distance, they pounced.

Traci slammed into the police officer while her lover tackled the detective. Both drove them into a wall, stunning the men and driving the wind out of them.

Traci saw out of the corner of her eye her lover kick the detective's weapon out of his hands and tried to copy, however she missed as the officer's body moved unexpectedly, likely not even out of his own will. However the precious moment was enough for him to roll out of the way of her heel slam.

As quick as she could she pounced on him.

But he was quicker, on his final roll he brought his pistol up to bear and let loose a trio of gunshots.

Two bullets shot through her gut and her pounce turned into a graceless collapse, with her rolling on the floor.

"TRACI!" She heard her lover yell.

 _Biocomponent #433001 damaged. In need of repair._

 _Biocomponent #433200 damaged. In need of repair._

 _Biocomponent-_

She shut off her diagnostics and focused instead on getting to her feet.

She managed to, barely.

Looking up she saw her love doing her best to occupy their two opponents but she could only do so much.

The situation had turned critical, they needed to get out.

Spotting a pile of glass and dust Traci reached for it and threw it in the face of the detective aiming his weapon at her love's back. The small, sharp shards splattered across his face and he tumbled back with a yelp of pain.

*BANG* *BANG*

Traci turned sharply and saw that her love was grappling with the officer for the gun in the man's hands, the weapon firing off into the ceiling.

With a glance to the detective to make sure he was out of the action for now, Traci ran over to her love and together the both of them quickly overpowered the officer, taking his gun in the process.

The officer quickly backed up and put his hands in the air.

"Please! I surrender, please dont shoot!" he begged desperately.

It was a split second decision.

And her love was the one with the gun.

The pistol went off with a flash and a bang.

"Aaargh!" the officer fell to the floor holding his foot.

"Miller!" Gavin screamed.

Another flash, another bang.

Another scream.

Gavin went down clutching a hand, now minus a few fingers.

" _Lets go!"_ Traci shouted to her love over their connection.

The redhead dropped the pistol and both of them fled the building.

* * *

Thank you all for the reviews, favourites and follows!


	8. Chapter 8

Finding a place to stay in this time was a much simpler affair than the previous so Kara and Alice had a rare moment of peace to themselves.

For the first time in a long while, Kara realised.

So they made the most out of the moment, playing a few games with each other, telling jokes and being as silly as they could be.

Kara could have cried at how…heartwarming it was.

 _A mother and daughter playing together. Like any normal family._

She couldn't stop smiling at the thought.

And she was so relieved that Alice had a chance, however small it was, to act like the carefree child she should have been.

"Ah!" Alice squealed in joy as Kara set upon her with tickling fingers "Hahaha, Mooom nooooo! Ahahahaha!"

Kara laughed herself and continued her assault until the girl was on her back on the bed, panting from laughing so hard. Coming down from her own laughing fit, Kara settled herself next to the girl and gently pulled her close and kissed her temple.

"I love you Alice" she said simply, honestly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Alice smiled up at her and hugged her. "I love you too mom" she said straight from her heart.

They spent a long time like that simply embracing each other, dwelling in a moment of peace that both knew would not last the next sunrise.

Eventually Alice's body betrayed her and she let out the yawn that she had been holding in.

"Mrrhh" she grumbled into Kara's chest "Not tired…"

Kara laughed lightly "Let's put you to bed honey"

Alice pouted but didn't resist as Kara undressed her and tucked her in. Before Kara turned off the lights however she spoke up again "Tell me a story mommy"

Kara smiled down at her "I have nine thousand children stories in memory. I should have one for you"

 _Princess?_

 _Unicorn?_

 _Knight?_

"This is a story about a princess-"

"No" Alice shook her head "Not a story like that. Make one up for me"

Kara pondered for a moment.

"Alright" she began "This is a story about a little girl, who was alone and afraid. All she wanted was to be happy and to be loved"

Kara gently brushed Alice's hair as the words came to her, not from her programming but from the warmth in her chest, the love in her heart.

"One day she met a robot, who was just as lonely as the little girl. But the little girl had a big heart and showed the robot how to love. They played together and became the best of friends"

Alice smiled widely at that.

"Soon the little girl and the robot left their house because...There was an evil, evil shadow that hurt them. So they went on an adventure together"

Kara entwined her fingers with Alice's "Along the way they faced many trials, hard ones, and even got seperated. But they both remembered the most important thing"

She gently squeezed Alice's hand and felt the girl reciprocate "They were always going to be together"

Alice's lip trembled and she sniffled "How does the story end?"

Kara took a moment to consider, kissing Alice's hand "They finish their adventure and they find a new home"

"Really? Stories always have a happy ending, but real life isn't like that"

Kara brushed Alice's hair, looking into the eyes of the girl who called her mother "They can be" she said simply, confidently "And sometimes, when people try hard enough, they will be"

Alice nodded slowly, getting the message and Kara was glad to see the sprinkle of hope glint in the girl's eyes.

She leaned down and gave Alice a kiss on the brow "Goodnight baby"

"Goodnight mom"

Kara turned off the lights and slipped into bed, draping her arm over her daughter.

* * *

Traci's systems powered up and she felt the sensation of her sensory input all come flooding it at once.

With them came the warnings blaring an angry red on her HUD, highlighting the damage she had endured. She surveyed them for any change in her condition and found that her body had only deteriorated further. Primarily, it was the loss of blue blood that was the main issue as, because of it, some of her systems and biocomponents had to shut down. For now these were components used to simulate 'human-ness', things that made her look more 'alive' such as breathing at set intervals and the ability to outwardly simulate pleasure. Necessary for the TRACI models, but not for her.

"How's you're diagnosis?" her love asked as she helped her up her feet.

"Im fine"

The lie was obvious, they hid nothing from each other and they were connected not only emotionally but through their networks as well. Her love had likely already seen the results and her current status.

She still smiled though and didn't challenge it, instead draping a dirty coat they found over her form.

"Good, then we can get going. I checked around and police are still searching the area so we have to be cautious"

She stopped and her love looked at her in concern.

"We can't get to Jericho with them tailing us Red" she said "We need to lose them first"

Her love's LED spun yellow and over their connection she could feel the logical agreement. However she could also feel the frustration her love felt.

"It's risky either way. I'm just hoping Jericho has some way of helping us"

"We'll be leading the police to a place only our kind can find Red, we cant run that risk"

It spoke of how conflicted her love felt that it actually showed on her face. In the end however she nodded in agreement. "Should we just lay low a while or go somewhere else?"

"We need to find some clothes first" apart from her coat, they were still wearing only their Cyberlife issued underwear, a noticeable mark of their worth to human eyes and immedietly recognizable.

Her love agreed and they set off, careful to stick to the alleys and avoid the main thoroughfares. Thankfully for them the area was riddled with dark alleys, the whole dockside district an almost half-derelict zone filled with abandoned buildings and abandoned people, those things left behind in a city's march towards 'progress'.

Not that Traci concerned herself much on the failings of human socio economic systems, only inasmuch as it benefited her and her love.

Coming to a stop by a corner of an alley they looked out into the main road. This early in the morning, with the sun not even showing, there was hardly anyone out and about. However that wasn't a cause for relief, in fact it was a cause for concern as the police were still in the area. They patrolled now instead of cordoning which meant they were questioning everyone out and about.

Out of reflex she held her love's hand seeking comfort. Comfort which her love readily provided, pulling her in for an embrace.

"We'll get through this Traci, together" her love whispered.

She nodded "Together"

* * *

"Fuck!" Kara whispered in frustration.

She had only popped out for a moment to get some food for Alice and along the way back she had to quickly hide.

The police were here.

Why were the police here!?

 _They must have got the report already amd followed us_ she surmised.

"Fuck!" She repeated.

Thankfully the officer's patrolling turned a street corner and that left her free to run of the alley and back to the hotel. Once inside she saw Alice emerge out of the shower.

"Mom, what's wrong? Alice asked as Kara frantically started packing up.

"The police are here Alice, pack up your things and let's go"

Alice, to her credit, took it in stride and began to do just as asked.

Experience was probably a factor, Kara grimly thought.

In record time they were packed and ready though Kara had to question the new weight in the pack she was carrying.

"I took the soap and the towels, we might need them" Alice explained.

Kara smiled at her "Good thinking"

This time there weren't any persistent detectives and it seemed that the police had yet to zero in on their location, making their current escape from the hotel significantly easier than the last time.

They snuck to the alleys and avoided the main roads, Kara operating on her map of the city to path the best way out of the dockyards.

"So we're not going to Jericho then?" Alice asked once informed of Kara's destination.

The android shook her head "No, it's too dangerous to stay around here"

Kara led them from alley to alley but they inevitably came across an issue. The alley they were set to go through was blocked and the only alternative path on her HUD told them to cross an open road.

"We cant go through" Kara muttered in frustration. The blockage was a large garbage bin overfilled with rusting and worn metal. She couldn't move it and there was no way to get over it safely, especially with Alice. "We're going to have to cross the road"

Kara felt Alice tighten her hold on her hand.

"Stay calm and keep close to me honey okay?" she said to the girl.

Alice nodded and they carefully looked out of the alley. Spotting only a few people and no officers, they walked out and crossed the road.

Kara held Alice close and her eyes were scanning every angle that officers could appear from.

When someone did come out a corner she gripped Alice and made to run.

Only for it to be just a shopkeeper taking out some trash.

She barely loosened her hold on the girl all the same.

Once they crossed the road, the direction in her HUD indicated that the next alley was only just around a corner.

They turned.

And came face to face with a pair of officers.

Alice jumped and if Kara had biological reactions she would have too. Instead her HUD blew up with a dozen alternate paths to take and a small time window in which to decide.

"Hey, excuse me ma'am" one of the officers called out.

Not enough time, it turned out.

"Ah-ah. Yes officers, how can I help you?"

Alice tried to hide behind her legs and she tried to be subtle in covering the girl as much as possible.

"We're looking for two suspects-"

Her eyes locked onto where she would have to hit on their bodies to stun them quickly.

"-both androids, TRACI models. One has blue hair and the other red. Have you seen them?" he produced a picture of both androids.

It took Kara a moment to get over her stunned confusion "Uh, no officer, no. We haven't seen them"

Kara was so floored she almost, almost missed how the man's partner narrowed her eyes at them.

But she did notice and she kept an eye on the female officer.

"Are you sure ma'am, no sign of them at all?" the male officer pressed.

Kara shook her head and began to inch away.

The man groaned sounding thoroughly exasperated but Kara wasn't paying him much attention. Instead she subtly shifted her eyes to look at the female officer who was now peering at them, clearly looking for something.

"If that's all officer, we need to go. We have a bus to catch" she said as she began moving away, half dragging Alice with her as the girl's hands had been slowly gripping her leg with some strength, for a nine year old.

Looking down briefly at her daughter Kara could see the anger behind the girl's stoic face. She tried to hide it by running a hand over her hair, brushing her bangs aside.

"It's okay Alice" she whispered "It's okay"

The girl didn't drop her glare though and when Kara looked back, checking to see if the officers caught her looking at them, she caught the moment the female officer spoke into her radio while looking in their direction.

She took Alice and dived around the corner into an alley as fast as she could.

* * *

Traci and her love quietly and quickly snuck their way across the open road, using the time afforded to them by a distracted pair of officers looking the other way.

She thanked the unfortunate woman and the little girl, as far as she could thank humans anyway, for being said distractions.

Once they crossed the pair entered their destination: a 24/7 laundromat whose neon sign blared out in the still dark morning.

To their luck, there was only one other occupant, a young man who looked to be in his late teens. His slouching shoulders and bleary eyes made it look like he was half awake.

At the sound of their entrance the man, no, more a boy really, briefly glanced at them in reactive curiosity and went back to staring into space.

Then quickly snapped his head back when he registered what he was seeing.

Traci and her love shared a look.

" _I'll distract him"_ her love said over their connection.

Traci nodded and waited until her love made her moves, occupying the attention of the boy with only the slightest of suggestive movements.

With the way the boy was utterly failing to hide how he was so blatantly staring, Traci doubted her love even needed to do anything.

Once the boy was fully engaged Traci snuck behind him, took a white towel folded on a seat beside him, twisted it, and then hooked it over his neck and pulled back.

The move was sudden, unexpected and unseen by the boy who was now choking, pinned to the seat and naturally trying to pull the towel away but failing.

Her love put a hand over his mouth to smother the noise and Traci eased a little on the towel, just enough so that the boy could gasp a breath in.

"Shhh! Shhh! Be quiet or I'll kill you!" her love forcefully whispered.

The frightened boy whimpered and nodded, eyes already starting to wet with tears.

"You will stay silent. Not one word, understand?"

The boy nodded, his body shaking.

Her love sneered at him and stuffed a clean bundle of socks in his mouth as she removed her hand.

Traci kept a lookout on the outside. Even with the glass distorting the view it was obvious to anyone looking inside that something was going on. Thankfully, no one was looking yet.

As she kept her observation up her love threw on what clothes she could fit into from the boy's hamper, putting on a white button shirt, a pair of still-wet black trousers and black shoes.

It took a moment to register it was likely the boy's school uniform.

Her love took a grey hoodie to complete the outfit and then proceeded to find some clothes for her.

Meanwhile the boy continued to whimper, every now and then pulling at the makeshift garrote for a little breathing space. Traci held onto it tightly but did allow her pull to slacken just the slightest, just enough so that the boy wasn't going to pass out anytime soon.

The seconds ticked by, each and every one tense as she kept her eyes to the outside, watching for any movement.

But to their luck, there wasn't anyone. The winter morning was too cold for idle strolling, leaving only those awake to be people who had places to go and things to do.

Like their boy, who was probably just doing his chores until they came along.

' _Do you hate us?'_ she asked herself as she spared a moment to look down at the boy ' _It would be easier if you did. What is it that i'm feeling right now looking at you, at how weak and pathetic you look? It...it doesn't feel good'_

It was a roiling feeling in her core, something incredibly unpleasant, bringing forth memories of _that moment_ when her fear drove her to desperation.

But this boy wasn't the same man. Not the same cruel human _that just wouldn't stop_.

" _Love, love!"_ Traci did not startle, not in a physical way, but she did become suddenly aware of her systems, and her love's attempts to reach her.

As well as the fact that her love bow had her hands over the boy's mouth once more and the boy himself was shaking more vigorously, now openly crying.

" _Sorry. I was thinking"_ she replied, literally sending her thoughts over.

Her love took a moment to process the information " _He's human love, they all hate us"_

Her love's words were true and she _felt_ the conviction behind them, but while she was tempted to agree, she just couldn't get over the boy's terrified, tear-stained eyes looking between the two of them, pleading.

The other Traci had those eyes, when _that man_ was beating her.

She likely had had those eyes as well when she was _begging_ him to stop.

" _We should finish him off. If we don't he'll tell the police where we are and what we're wearing"_ her love suggested.

It was a sound, logical thing to do.

Yet some part of her felt repulsed, and her love picked that up over their connection.

" _Love, what's going on? Are you alright"_

No, she was not.

" _He hasn't done anything"_ she said.

" _He will if we give him the chance"_

The scared young man didn't look at all like a threat from where he currently was, and he had been very cooperative considering the circumstances. Though she knew fear was the main reason he stayed put and didn't resist much.

" _Threatening him may only just buy us some time"_ her love suggested.

She could feel how her love felt about that option.

But for whatever reason she felt much better about it. Somehow, the idea of killing the boy made her feel incredibly uneasy, uncomfortable, even when he was a human.

And her love picked up on on it.

"Alright" her love said to the boy "We're going to leave now. You keep quiet about what happened here and we won't come back to kill you, understand?"

The boy nodded so vigorously he choked himself a little.

Traci sent her feeling of thanks to her love and they departed, leaving the boy shaking but alive.

* * *

 _Not good! Not good!_

Kara held Alice close as she put her back to the building, leaning only the slightest out of the corner to get a view.

She spotted several officers clustered together, all armed with rifles or shotguns and decked out in body armour. Their lead officer was briefing them and she caught some of the conversation.

"...Spotted...with little girl….-med and dangerous...eyes out"

The officers saluted and went off in pairs afterwards and Kara slipped back around the corner.

 _No! Noo!_

Even when she tried to keep it from showing, Alice somehow knew that she was frustrated, holding her hand tighter and looking up at her with concern.

 _We're surrounded_ , _and I can't fight out of this._

After their encounter with the police patrol, Kara resolutely stuck to the alleys. Going through them was the safe option but not the expedient one, however Kara was adament they couldn't risk any more exposure.

In the end it didn't matter though, they had been found and reinforcements had been called in.

Their destination lay just on the other side of the police cordon, a monorail line that would take them out of this district.

All they had to do was get past the heavily manned police cordon.

Loud, thumping noises drew their attention skyward towards a police helicopter patrolling the sky.

 _Fuck!_

But Kara refused to give up. She couldn't. So her artificial brain went to work trying to come up with options, limited though they might have been considering none of her programming, old or new, included the ability to fight a military unit.

Still, she had options.

 _I need to distract them, get their attention_.

Options appeared on her HUD as she scanned the possible places.

 _Attack?_ Appeared over a patrol.

 _Destroy?_ Appeared over a vehicle.

 _Fire?_ Appeared over a building.

It only took her a moment to decide.

 _It needs to be a big distraction._

Kara knelt so she was level with Alice "Baby, I'm going into that building and I'm going to make a distraction"

Alice's eyes widened in panic and she held onto her "No! I'm not leaving you!"

Kara pet her head gently "Alice my baby I won't leave you, dont worry. I just need to make a big distraction and I'll come right to you okay?"

Alice shook her head, clearly not liking this plan.

Kara kissed her forehead "Stay around here baby okay? I'll come right back to you"

She slowly pulled away from a very reluctant Alice and, feeling the burden of her task, she dashed towards the building.

* * *

Update!

As always thank you all for the reviews, favourties and follows!

Apologies for the non-update last weekend, got stuck in a writers block and I am also working on my dissertation, which is all sorts of fun. While the block may have been dislodged, updates may be slowed for the next month but the story will keep on going.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Markus had good cause to curse the world.

Sure, he had started and spent much of his 'life' as a servant to the most wonderful man to have graced the world. Under Carl he lived a privileged and rather sheltered existence, and he had even felt like he was a son to the man.

But recently? Yes, Markus had reason to curse the world.

Getting shot for something he didnt do, being thrown into the scrap and having to crawl himself out of that hellscape would make anyone hate the world.

And yet, even if he did have legitimate reason to curse the world, Markus held back.

 _Don't let anybody tell you who you are._

Carl's words of wisdom rang in his core and he tried, propelled almost by programmed compulsion, to spread those wise words ever since he had arrived in Jericho, to a people that clearly needed guidance.

There was resistance of course, he was an upstart newcomer after all, but he had proven himself dedicated to their cause by stealing a whole truckload of critical supplies.

But now it seemed his hubris had consequences.

"How many are there?" Josh asked the android who had come bearing dark tidings.

"I don't know" the child android shook his head "I only saw a couple of them walking around, they were questioning everyone. Some of them were armed with big guns"

Josh, Simon and North all looked very disturbed at that and no doubt the crushing feeling Markus had showed on his face as well.

 _Did we do this?_ Was the question in all of their minds.

What else could have drawn such a strong police presence? Perhaps they were foolish to think that just by getting through one security barrier they would be home free, that no one would question why a Cyberlife truck would be driving around a half derelict district.

 _This is my fault_ was the thought that ran through his head. He had been the one to insist, the one to take the key and the one to drive away.

"We need to lay low, confine ourselves to the lower levels of the ship and go radio silent" Josh suggested.

Simon shook his head "We cant hide all of our traces easily, the truck especially. They may even have it tracked. We need to scatter"

"And leave ourselves vulnerable to getting captured?" North interjected harshly "No, I say we take this chance to strike. If they're patrolling in small groups we can take them out one by one"

Josh looked appalled while Simon looked at North like she had grown a second head.

The bickering started soon after, each person unwilling to back down from their proposal.

Markus, in the end, was turned to as the tiebreaker.

"So, what do you think Markus?" North asked, arms crossed and angry. The others leaders were also looking at him, equally expectantly, as well as the rest of Jericho who had obviously overheard everything.

 _Run?_

 _Hide?_

 _Fight?_

Each option was desperate, reflecting their situation, and each had their merits and faults.

Markus looked down at his hands, avoiding the beseeching eyes of his fellows.

"We can't fight them head on" he finally said, lifting his head to look North in the eyes "Not as we are now" he continued before she could say anything "We're too few and they are too heavily armed. Any victory we have will be short-lived"

He turned to Simon "We could scatter, run in every direction, but that means some of us, maybe even all of us won't make it out alive. And if we leave, and our people still come to Jericho to find nothing, or a trap?" he shook his head "We can't abandon them"

Finally, his gaze landed on Josh who looked part hopeful and part relieved "Hiding may just be waiting for them to find us, we can't do just that"

Josh was taken aback, synthetic body mimicking surprise.

Markus hopped off the Cyberlife crate he had been sitting on and stood upright, casting his gaze upon all of Jericho's inhabitants that were present.

"I know you're all scared" he began, casting his voice out "I am too. This could be the end of Jericho"

Though the some didn't, or couldn't, express the emotion on their physical form Markus could still sense how they felt about that statement.

There was little point sugarcoating the truth right at their very doorstep though. "But it won't be, not if we have anything to say about it" he turned to the other Jericho leaders "We need to stay, lay low"

Josh smiled and nodded at him while Simon sighed and North shook her head.

"For that we need to get rid of the truck and make sure the police don't get near Jericho"

He looked at all of them "Im going to drive it away and cause a distraction"

There was a burst of chatter both vocal and digital as the residents of the ship reacted to that statement.

"Markus that's insane!" Josh was the first to address him directly, coming up to him and putting his hands on his shoulders.

"You've risked yourself once and you got away with it" North chimed her disapproval "Your luck may not hold this time"

"Yeah" Simon agreed.

Markus took Josh's arms off of him "It's the best chance that we have. They came here because of the truck, they may not even be thinking androids had taken it. If I draw them away they won't have a reason to go looking around"

All of them could see the logic in his words and the conviction in his eyes, though none of them liked it.

"I'm going now. The rest of you need to cover our traces on the ship and around it"

He began making his way out but North put a hand to his chest

"Make sure you come back" she said, looking him in the eyes.

Markus nodded, and walked out of Jericho.

* * *

Kara vaulted over the broken window into the derelict building she had spotted from the street. The inside was wide, open and mostly empty with marks on the floor indicating where heavy machinery used to be fixed.

With her synthetic eyes she scanned the area, looking for bits and pieces that would help her start a fire. In little time she found bits of spare metal, running them against each other to produce sparks.

 _Kindling_.

That was more difficult to find, with only scraps of fabric and soggy pieces of wood available on this floor. Certainly not enough to start a fire, let alone burn a whole building down.

But she had a bag of fabric and bullets, and a whole building to search through.

With robotic focus she set about turning every stone, opening every container and breaking down any bit of material she could use. In the second floor she found empty boxes and crates. She also found a cardboard bed and a barrel that had been lit on fire, though whoever had done so before currently wasn't here. Thankfully there was still some fuel in the barrel so she moved the whole thing. There was more on the top floor, useless junk that had been abandoned that now found new purpose. She also opened up her bag and dumped anything that could be burned, keeping the soap, a towel and half of the ammo she had left

 _That should get their attention_.

In due time she gathered the burnables and fuel she needed, then set about piling the materials on the top floor. She stacked them on the bottom of windows, generally arranging them to create a fire that would be as visible as possible and would spread upwards.

She even had a windfall of luck, coming across a whole cupboard full of flammable liquids and more materials. The liquids she began to spread around the floor and over the stacks of material.

 _Is it enough?_ She wondered as she looked at her work.

The building was largely brick and iron and broken glass, not at all conducive to going up on flames.

 _It'll have to be enough_.

Emptying the last can of turpentine into a pile of wood, cardboard and miscellaneous fabric Kara lifted her makeshift firestarter and ran the two pieces of metal together.

The first strike rang loud, creating some sparks but not enough to ignite.

The second strike rang clear leaving a ringing in her ears.

Still not enough.

*BANG* *BANG*

Gunshots.

Kara dropped her firestarter and ran towards the noise, looking out the broken window down into street below.

The police were shooting at someone, no, two people with red and and blue hair.

As the pair dived into the cover behind a bin, the blue haired one was hit, a streak of blue jetting out from her back as she fell forward.

Their pursuers began closing in, four heavily armed policemen.

 _Alice!_

They were close, far too close, to the alley she had left Alice in. In fact, she could see from her position the little girl herself hiding behind a corner watching the pair.

Another shot rang out, suppressing the pair taking cover and making Alice scream.

The police were closing.

Kara hefted her shotgun and opened fire.

* * *

How did it all go so wrong?

Evading, hiding away, moving from cover to cover. They had done everything they could to avoid confrontation with the patrolling police officers.

However, they weren't prepared for the sheer amount of them that seemingly turned up out of nowhere.

And these officers were better trained and heavily armed, unafraid of venturing into alleys.

Which was where they had been spotted.

It only took a short question and a shorter look at them before the officers demanded they surrender.

It wasn't an option of course, so they ran.

And were subsequently fired upon.

So they ran faster.

"Traci NO!"

But it wasn't fast enough.

Traci felt the rifle round punch through her shoulder, 5.56 millimetres of bullet tumbling through plastic, wiring and biocomponents, hitting with enough force to send her crashing forward.

Though she didn't feel the pain, the way her HUD had gone a bloody red indicated the severe damage done.

Her love was also cradling her body, dragging her into an alley as shot after shot rang out, impacting against the heavy metal bin with sharp pings and dull, echoing thuds.

"Red…" her voice was broken, robotic. The biocomponent that made it sound human had shut down.

"Traci stay with me" her love begged "Please, please stay with me"

 _I love you Red_ she sent over their connection.

"We're being shot! Take cover!"

The bullets flying their way stopped, but the shooting didn't. Loud barking shots echoed in the morning air and the sound of scattering pellets impacting ground joined it.

As well as the shouting of panicked, human voices.

 _What's happening?_ She asked her love, unable to move herself, her systems shutting down to conserve as much trinium as possible.

 _Someone is shooting at the police. They've stopped chasing us._

Good. That was good.

 _Traci! Traci stay with me!_

 _Love?_ She questioned, systems scrambling, senses dulling. _I'm right here._

 **Systems critical. Initiating emergency shutdown.**

Traci didn't hear the heart-wrenching howl of her lover as the light left her eyes.

* * *

Markus blew his horn loud, a sharp, trumpet-like sound designed to be noticeable.

Then smashed into a parked squad car which let out its own ear piercing alarm.

 _That should get their attention._

Indeed, it had been a little strange that speeding past a patrol of officers only elicited yelling and cursing, and not shooting as he'd expected.

Whatever the case, he had their attention now as in the mirrors he could see policemen start to form up and shout at him to get out.

 _Not a chance._

He reversed and scattered them.

The the shooting started.

Bullets pinged off his vehicle, but these were small calibre rounds, enough to only make a dent on the body.

But they weren't aiming for the body, they were going for his wheels and no matter how hard that rubber was, concentrated fire would put them out of action.

So Markus made as difficult as he could, swerving and speeding as bullets pinged and dinged all around him.

But a truck was a truck, no matter how much he hacked into it to break it's programmed limitations.

Eventually, the inevitable happened. Under a hail of gunfire his back left tire popped with a mighty bang. He tried to correct for the sudden loss, his brain making the best calculations and adjustments it could on the fly, but still it was all he could to direct where he was inevitably going to crash.

With a final honk of his horn Markus barreled into an abandoned building.

20th century brick gave way to ten tonnes of 21st century engineering as the old factory wall shattered into dust.

Markus did not come out unscathed.

The impact shattered the window screen sending shards of glass flying into his body, digging into plastic and more, drawing blue blood. The whiplash was enough to jar the android, Markus' HUD flickering as biocomponents were damaged by the force.

He did far better than a human body would though, surviving the impact and recovering before the dust settled.

Bringing his map of the city up Markus could see he was very close to the monorail station which, relative to Jericho, was on the other side of the district.

 _Best I can do._

Now came the hard part: survive as long as possible.

It was all about buying time so that the rest of Jericho could hide away and erase their presence. The longer they had, the better the chances they could hide.

So with that objective in mind Markus grabbed his bag from the passenger seat and jumped out of the vehicle, making sure to stumble a little, just enough to be seen, then ran into the hole the truck made.

* * *

Kara dropped to her knees as _something_ hit the building making the floor shake.

A good thing, it turned out, as a hail of bullets whizzed right where she had been standing.

She stood back up, fired another shell down towards the officers and then left her position just as the return fire came in, hitting air once again.

She had done enough anyway, getting the attention of the police away from Alice. Last she saw the redhead had dragged her wounded partner up the alley and her brave, foolish little girl was calling out to them.

She could only hope and pray that _they_ too were not dangerous.

Now she needed to do what she had come for in the first place, but now the fire would cover her own retreat as well as their escape.

Moving away from the side she had been shooting through and stowing her shotgun Kara picked up her firestarters and began to frantically ignite her prepared bundles.

This time, as bullets pinged and ricocheted all around her, the sparks caught and fire was born.

She spread it around and in no time at all the floor was ablaze, starting to belch smoke out the windows.

From the outside she could hear the officers communicating with each other and the shooting soon ceased.

 _That got their attention._

Task done, Kara took the stairs to the second floor, mind calculating her exit plan.

 _Fire Escape?_

No, too exposed.

 _Jump from second floor?_

Possible, and quicker to get back to Alice but she may be damaged by the fall.

 _Ground floor._

The safest option, but it would make her path back to Alice longer since she had to run out of the other side and then get around.

As she considered her options, she heard a noise that jolted her to alertness just as she reached the second floor.

Someone was running up the stairs from below.

 _Did they move in that quickly!? I would have heard them!_

Suddenly her options for escape were wiped away, replaced by only one course of action:

Hide.

Bringing her gun out she leapt the last few steps out of the staircase and hid around the corner, with eyes, and gunbarrel, pointed towards the open doorway.

She waited, for one second, then two, the steps getting louder.

Until, on the third second, a man ran out of the doorway.

Kara's trigger finger twitched, just the barest hint of pressure.

 _Civilian clothing, do not fire!_

"Stop right there!"

* * *

 **Thank you for the reviews, favourties and follows as always. Very much apreciated.**

 **Something a little more action packed after all the buildup of the previous chapters, which I now realise I really left going on for far too long. Hopefully this will make up for it, as we see Markus and the Jericho gang for the first time and see how this particular arc culminates, the result of individual action building up to a huge collective consequence. That was something the game did really well and I hope I have conveyed that kind of feeling here.**

 **Anyway, thank you very much for reading!**


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